Steps in solving heredity problems:

Monohybrid crosses
I. Both parents are heterozygous
The allele of brown eyes is inherited as an autosomal dominant allele. If both
parents are heterozygous, what is the probability that they can have a child with blue
eyes? With brown eyes?
1. Assign a symbol for each allele
A capital letter is used for a dominant allele and a small letter for recessive
allele.
Use the symbol A for brown eyes and a for blue eyes.

allele genotype phenotype

A AA, Aa Brown eyes
a aa Blue eyes

2. Determine the genotype of each parent and indicate a mating

Because both parents are heterozygous, the male genotype is Aa, female
genotype is also Aa.

3. Determine all the possible kinds of gametes each parent can produce
Because of gametes are haploid, they can have only one allele instead of the
two present in the diploid cell. As the male has both the brown-eyed allele and the
blue-eyed allele, then a half of his gametes will contain the brown-eyed allele and the
other half will contain the blue-eyed allele. Because the female has the same
genotype, her gametes will be the same as his.
To solve genetic problems, a Punnet square is used.

Female gametes T t
Male gametes
T
t

4. Determine all the gene combinations that can result when gametes
copulate
To determine the possible combinations of alleles that could occur as a result
of this mating, simply fill in each of the empty squares with the alleles that can be
donated from each parent.

Female gametes T t
Male gametes
T TT Tt
t Tt tt
 5. Determine the phenotype of each possible gene combination
In this problem, three of the offsprings, TT, Tt and Tt, have brown eyes. One
progeny, tt has blue eyes. Therefore, the answer to the problem is that the probability
of having offspring with brown eyes is ¾ (75%) and with blue eyes is ¼ (25%).

All monohybrid problems can be solved using this method

II. One parent is heterozygous and the other is homozygous for a trait:
If one parent is heterozygous for eyes color and the other is homozygous for
this trait, what is the probability that they will have a child with brown eyes? Blue
eyes?

Step1: Use the symbol A – for brown eyes and a – for blue eyes.
allele genotype phenotype
A AA, Aa Brown eyes
a aa Blue eyes

Step 2: Aa x aa

Step3:
a
A
a

Step4:
a
A Aa
a aa

Step 5:
In this problem, ½ (50%) of the progeny will have brown eyes and ½ (50%)
will have blue eyes.

A dihybrid cross
A dihybrid cross is study in which two pairs of alleles are followed from the
parental generation to the offspring. This problem is solved in basically the same way
as the monohybrid cross. The main difference is that in the dihybrid cross you are
working with two different characteristics from each parent.
It is necessary to use Mendel`s law of independent assortment when
considering double-factor problems. Recall that according to this law, members of
one allelic pair separate from each other independently of the members of other pairs
of alleles. This happens during meiosis when the chromosomes segregate (Mendel`s
law of independent assortment applies only if the two pairs of alleles are located on
separate chromosomes).

Problem: In humans, the allele for free earlobes is dominant over the allele for
attached earlobes. The allele for dark hair dominates over the allele for light hair. If
both parents are heterozygous for earlobes and hair color, what types of offspring can
they produce, and what is the probability for each type?

Step 1; Use the symbol:

E - free earlobes
e - attached earlobes
D - dark hair
d - light hair.

Genotype Phenotype
EE, Ee Free earlobes
ee Attached earlobes
DD, Dd Dark hair
dd Light hair

Step 2: Determine the genotype for each parent and show a mating:

♀EeDd X ♂EeDd

Step 3: Determine all the possible gametes each parent can produce and write
the symbols for the alleles in a Punnett square. Because there are two pairs of alleles
in a double-factor cross, each gamete must contain one allele from each pair. Thus,
each parent can produce four different kinds of gametes.
To determine the possible gene combinations in the gametes, select one allele
from one of the pairs of alleles and match it with one allele from the other pair of the
alleles. Then, match the second allele from the first pair of alleles with each of the
alleles from the second pair. This may be done in a following way:

♂ ED Ed eD ed
♀
ED
Ed
eD
ed

Step 4: Determine all the gene combinations that can result when these
gametes unite. Fill in the Punnett square:
 ♂ ED Ed eD ed
♀
ED EEDD EEDd EeDD EeDd
Ed EEDd EEdd EeDd Eedd
eD EeDD EeDd eeDD eeDd
ed EeDd Eedd eeDd eedd

Step 5: Determine the phenotype of each possible gene combination. In this

problem there are 16 possible ways in which gametes can combine to produce an
offspring. There are four possible phenotypes in this cross. They are represented in
the following chart:
E-D- (EEDD, EEDd, EeDd, EeDD) - free earlobes, dark hair
E-dd (EEdd and EeDD) – free earlobes, light hair
eeD- (eeDd and eeDD) - attached earlobes, dark hair
eedd - attached earlobes, light hair

The probability of having a given phenotype is:

9/16 free earlobes, dark hair
3/16 free earlobes, light hair
3/16 attached earlobes, dark hair
1/16 attached earlobes, light hair
Codominance

Problem: If one parent is heterozygous for A blood group and the other is
heterozygous for B blood group, what phenotype can their child have?
Step 1: IA – A blood group, IB – B blood group
In the AB0 system, A and B show codominance when they are together in the
same individual; but both are dominant over the 0 allele.

Genotype Phenotype
IA IA, IAI0 A blood group
I B I B, I BI 0 B blood group
IA IB AB blood group

Step 2: IAI0 X I BI 0
Step 3: Gametes:
IB I0
IA
IO

Step 4:
IB I0
IA IAIB IAI0
 I0 I BI 0 I0 I0

Step 5: Thus, this cross results in four different phenotypes – 0, A, B, and AB

blood groups.

1. Steps in solving heredity problems: X-linked

Problem: In humans the gene for normal color vision is dominant and the gene
for color deficiency is recessive. Both genes are X-linked. People who are color blind
are not really blind, but should more appropriately be described as having “color
defective vision”. A male who has normal vision mates with a female who is
heterozygous for normal color vision. What type of children can they have in terms of
these traits, and what is the probability for each type?

Step 1: This condition is linked to the X chromosome, so it has become

traditional to symbolize the allele as the superscript on the letter X. Because the Y
chromosome does not contain a homologous allele, only the letter Y is used.
XD – normal color vision
Xd – color deficient
Y – no gene resent

Genotype Phenotype
XDY Male, normal color vision
XdY Male, color deficient
XDXD Female, normal color vision
XDXd Female, normal color vision
XdXd Female, color deficient

Step 2: Male`s genotype - XDY (normal color vision), female`s genotype -

XDXd (normal color vision).
♀ XDXd X ♂ XDY

Steps 3, 4: The genotype of the gametes are listed in the Punnett square:

XD Xd
XD XDXD XDXd
Y XDY XdY
Step 5: The phenotype of the offspring are determined:
XDXD, XDXd - daughters with normal color vision (100%)
XDY - sons with normal color vision (50%)
d
XY - sons with color blindness (50%)