Question

Examine the diagram below and answer the question that follows.



If the recessive female from Generation III were to have offspring with a heterozygous male, what are the chances the offspring will have the recessive trait?
25%
50%
75%
100%

Answer 1

To answer this question, we need to understand the genetic makeup of the individuals involved and how inheritance works.

Let's denote:
- The dominant allele as "A"
- The recessive allele as "a"

Based on your description:
- The recessive female from Generation III would have the genotype "aa" since she expresses the recessive trait.
- The heterozygous male would have the genotype "Aa" as he carries one dominant and one recessive allele.

Now, we can set up a Punnett square to determine the possible genotypes of their offspring:

```
A a
----------------
a | Aa | aa |
----------------
a | Aa | aa |
----------------
```

From the Punnett square, we can see the possible genotypes for the offspring:
- 50% will be "Aa" (heterozygous, showing the dominant trait)
- 50% will be "aa" (homozygous recessive, showing the recessive trait)

Thus, the chances that the offspring will have the recessive trait are **50%**.

The correct answer is **50%**.