Question

a father and mother are both carriers of the autosomal recessive condition known as albinism. they have one child, and a second child two years later. their first child was not albino. knowing this, you can say that the probability of the second child having albinism is . question 4answer a. dependent on the the genotype of the first child b. 50% c. note - albinism is the result of a lack of pigmentation in skin and other cells. d. 25% e. 100%

Answer 1

The probability of the second child having albinism remains at 25%, regardless of the genotype of the first child, as each child's chance is an independent event and both parents are carriers of the autosomal recessive allele.

Step-by-step explanation:

The probability of the second child having albinism is independent of the genotype of the first child. Albinism is an autosomal recessive condition, meaning that in order for a child to express albinism, they must inherit two recessive alleles, one from each parent. If both parents are carriers (heterozygous) for the trait, they have one dominant and one recessive allele. Therefore, each child has a 25% chance of inheriting two recessive alleles and being albino, a 50% chance of being a carrier like the parents, and a 25% chance of inheriting two dominant alleles and not carrying the gene for albinism at all.

The chance of having an albino child is always the same for each pregnancy when parents are carriers, regardless of the genotypes of any previous children, making each event independent with a 25% chance of albinism for a child in such a cross. This follows Mendelian inheritance patterns and can be visualized using a Punnett square, where each quadrant represents a possible genotype of the offspring when combining the parental alleles.