How can an offspring inherit a recessive trait?


**A. An offspring can inherit a recessive trait if one of its parents has the trait and the other is homozygous for the dominant allele.

B. An offspring can inherit a recessive trait if one of its parents is heterozygous for the recessive allele and the other is homozygous for the dominant allele.

C. An offspring can inherit a recessive trait if both of its parents are homozygous for the dominant allele.

D. An offspring can inherit a recessive trait if both of its parents are heterozygous for the dominant allele.

Please tell me if I'm right of close.

more work needed

are you clear on homozygous vs heterozygous?

the correct answer is d

You are very close. The correct answer is B. An offspring can inherit a recessive trait if one of its parents is heterozygous for the recessive allele and the other is homozygous for the dominant allele.

To understand why this is the correct answer, let's break it down:

In genetics, traits are determined by genes, which are located on chromosomes. Each gene has two copies, or alleles, one inherited from each parent. There are dominant alleles and recessive alleles. A dominant allele will always be expressed in an individual's phenotype, while a recessive allele will only be expressed if both copies of the gene are recessive.

Now, let's consider the question. If an offspring inherits a recessive trait, it means that the recessive allele must be present in the offspring's genotype.

In option A, the offspring could not inherit a recessive trait if one of its parents is homozygous for the dominant allele. This is because in this case, there would be no recessive allele for the offspring to inherit.

In option B, one parent is heterozygous for the recessive allele and the other is homozygous for the dominant allele. This is the correct answer because the heterozygous parent carries the recessive allele, which can be passed on to the offspring. If the offspring inherits the recessive allele from this parent and receives another recessive allele from the other parent, it will have a recessive trait.

In options C and D, both parents have only dominant alleles. In this case, there would be no recessive allele available for the offspring to inherit, so they cannot inherit a recessive trait.

Therefore, the correct answer is B. An offspring can inherit a recessive trait if one of its parents is heterozygous for the recessive allele and the other is homozygous for the dominant allele.