Question

You have a cup of beans in front of you with 20 white beans and 20 red beans. These beans represent the alleles for a simple Mendelian trait, where red is dominant (R) and white is recessive (r). The cup holds the alleles for an entire population (the gene pool). Note: You may substitute other everyday objects (such as candies, coins, or paper clips) for the beans, but be sure to designate which objects represent the dominant versus recessive alleles.

How many alleles of each type are present in your overall population?

Answer 1

Dominant: 20, Recessive: 20

Step-by-step explanation:

The case shown in the question above explores simple Mendelian traits, since it shows a population where individuals of the same species present the dominant allele (R- red) and the recessive allele (r- white). We can project, then, that this population has an allele balance, where it is possible to find 20 red beans, which have the dominant allele and 20 white beans, which present the recessive allele.