Question

I had a room full of 666 cockroaches which included 24 albinos. These albinos were so scary looking that I squashed them and let the remaining cockroaches breed. The next generation of cute little baby cockroaches totaled 13,485. Assuming that the allele for albinism is recessive, how many of these youngsters will i have to squish (albino)?

Answer 1

Approximately 3,371 of the 13,485 offspring will have the albino phenotype and need to be squished.

Step-by-step explanation:

In this scenario, the allele for albinism is recessive. Therefore, the albinos accounted for 24 out of 666 cockroaches in the initial generation. After squashing the albinos, the remaining cockroaches bred and produced the next generation totaling 13,485 individuals. To determine how many of these offspring will be albino, we can use the principles of Mendelian genetics.

By applying a Punnett square analysis, we can determine that if both parents are heterozygous carriers for the recessive albinism allele (Aa), then there is a 25% chance for albino offspring (aa genotype).

Therefore, out of the 13,485 offspring, approximately 3,371 (25%) will have the albino phenotype and need to be squished.