A certain form of albinism in humans is recessive and autosomal. Assume that 1% of the individuals in a given population are albino.
Assuming that the population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, what percentage of the individuals in this population is expected to be heterozygous?
To determine the percentage of individuals that are heterozygous for a certain form of albinism in this population, we can use the Hardy-Weinberg equation:
p^2 + 2pq + q^2 = 1
Where:
p^2 represents the frequency of homozygous dominant individuals (AA)
2pq represents the frequency of heterozygous individuals (Aa)
q^2 represents the frequency of homozygous recessive individuals (aa)
And 1 represents the total population.
Given that the albino form of albinism is recessive and autosomal, we can assume that the frequency of homozygous recessive individuals (q^2) is 0.01 (1% of the population).
Therefore, q^2 = 0.01
To find q, we can take the square root of q^2:
q = √0.01 = 0.1
Since q represents the frequency of the recessive allele in the population, and assuming the population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of the dominant allele (p) can be calculated as:
p = 1 - q = 1 - 0.1 = 0.9
Now, to find the frequency of heterozygous individuals (2pq), we can substitute the values of p and q into the equation:
2pq = 2 * 0.9 * 0.1 = 0.18
Therefore, the percentage of the individuals in this population that is expected to be heterozygous is 18%.
To determine the percentage of individuals in a population who are expected to be heterozygous for a certain trait, we can use the Hardy-Weinberg equation. The equation is:
p^2 + 2pq + q^2 = 1,
where p represents the frequency of the dominant allele and q represents the frequency of the recessive allele.
In this case, the given information tells us that the certain form of albinism is recessive, so the frequency of the recessive allele (q) can be calculated as the square root of the frequency of albino individuals (1%).
q = sqrt(0.01) = 0.1.
Since the form of albinism is autosomal, there are only two possible alleles (dominant and recessive), and they make up the entirety of the gene pool. Therefore, the frequency of the dominant allele (p) can be calculated by subtracting the frequency of the recessive allele from 1:
p = 1 - q = 1 - 0.1 = 0.9.
Now, we can calculate the percentage of individuals who are heterozygous (2pq). Plugging the values of p and q into the equation:
2pq = 2 * 0.9 * 0.1 = 0.18.
Therefore, assuming the population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, we can expect that 18% of the individuals in this population will be heterozygous for the certain form of albinism.