If each of the 10 genes displays simple Mendelian inheritance with two alleles (tall and short, with tall being dominant), then there are 10 independent genes contributing to height.
For each gene, there are 2 possible alleles (tall or short), so there are 2^10 = 1024 possible genotypes.
Since each gene contributes equally to height, each genotype would result in a specific height phenotype. Therefore, there would be 1024 different possible genetic height phenotypes in humans in this simplified scenario.
A recent study found that at least 180 different genes seem to be correlated with height in humans, which is partly why height seems to be a continuous trait. If we imagine a much simpler scenario in which only 10 genes control height, and each of these genes displays simple Mendelian inheritance (i.e., there are only two alleles, tall and short, and tall is dominant to short) and shows equal contribution to height, how many different possible genetic height phenotypes would there be in humans?
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