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In a population of hamsters, 10 individuals are homozygous dominant, 5 are heterozygous, and 15 are homozygous recessive. What is p?

a. 0.58
b. 0.3
c. 0.7
d. 0.42

User Ksenia
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1 Answer

7 votes

Final answer:

The frequency of the dominant allele (p) in a population of hamsters, where 10 are homozygous dominant, 5 are heterozygous, and 15 are homozygous recessive, is calculated as 0.42. This calculation is based on the Hardy-Weinberg principle which states that allele frequencies remain constant in the absence of evolutionary influences.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question about population genetics can be solved using the Hardy-Weinberg principle. This principle states that the allele frequencies in a population will remain constant from generation to generation in the absence of other evolutionary influences. In this case, allele A is dominant, and allele a is recessive.

To calculate the allele frequency of the dominant allele A (p), we count the total number of A alleles in the population and divide by the total number of alleles. Given that there are 10 individuals that are homozygous dominant (AA), 5 that are heterozygous (Aa), and 15 that are homozygous recessive (aa), we can calculate p as follows:

The closest answer to 0.4167 from the provided options is 0.42 (answer d). Hence, the frequency of the dominant allele (p) in the population is approximately 0.42.

User Shahsra
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