autosomal recessive disorder in a female

Question

1 allele or 2

Answer 1

If a female has an autosomal recessive disorder, she would need to have two copies of the recessive allele in order to exhibit symptoms of the disorder. This is because females have two X chromosomes and would need to have both copies of the recessive allele on each X chromosome to have the disorder. If a female only had one copy of the recessive allele, she would be considered a carrier of the disorder but would not exhibit symptoms herself.