Question

Sickle cell anemia is a disease that causes the blood cells to be shaped like sickles instead of being circular. The table describes the phenotype of red blood cells when a particular genotype is present.

Genotype Effect
homozygous recessive sickle cells
homozygous dominant normal, circular blood cells
heterozygous some normal cells and some sickle cells in the blood
What type of inheritance is shown by the genes that control sickle cell anemia? Explain your response.

Answer 1

The genes have a codominant pattern of inheritance because the heterozygous forms show both traits equally.

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

Answer: The type of inheritance shown by the gene that control sickle cell anaemia is autosomal recessive inheritance

Explanation: Autosomal recessive inheritance means that there is mutation in two copies of the gene in a cell. Sickle cell anaemia is a condition caused by a single point mutation in the two beta chains of haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is a protein in the red blood cells responsible for oxygen transport to the cells. The mutation is caused by substitution of valine in place of glutamate at the sixth position of the two beta chains of haemoglobin.

Every individual has two copies of almost every gene, one from the mother, and one from the father. The autosomal recessive inheritance pattern of sickle cell gene means that for an individual to manifest outwardly as sickle cell, the two copies of the gene inherited from the parents are mutated.