Allele

Alleles
• The chromosomes in a pair carry the same genes in the
same places.

• But there are different versions of the same gene.

• Different versions of the same gene are called alleles

Our Inheritance
Allele: specific variation or characteristic that is
located on a gene (eg. eye color, carrier of cystic
fibrosis)

Dominant: characteristic which is inherited from

mother or father that is stronger and is expressed
in the offspring

Recessive: characteristic which is inherited from

mother or father that is weaker and is not
expressed in the offspring
 Homozygous Vs Heterozygous
 If both the alleles are the same, the organism is homozygous
for the trait

 If both alleles are different, the organism is heterozygous for

that trait

Bb BB bb
Our Inheritance

Homozygous: characteristics from mother and

father that are the same
eg. B (brown eye color) : BB

Heterozygous: characteristics from mother and

father that are not the same
eg. B (brown eye color) b (blue eye color) : Bb
Our Inheritance

Genotype: The alleles combination of a gene.

eg. BB, Bb, bb

Phenotype: The expression of the gene.

eg. Brown eye color, Blue eye color
 Recessive vs Dominant
A recessive allele only shows if an individual has two
copies of it.
Example: The allele for blue eye colour is recessive. You need two copies of
it to have blue eyes.

bb blue eyes
A dominant allele always show even if the individual has
only one copy of it. Example: The allele for brown eyes is dominant and so
you will have brown eyes if you have one copy of it. You will have brown eyes if you
have two copies of it

Bb brown bB brown BB brown

eyes eyes eyes
 Punnett square
• The Punnett square is a diagram to show
possible combinations of genes, based on
the genes of the parents. It is used to predict
the outcome of a particular cross or
breeding experiment
Our Inheritance

Y = yellow
y = green
1) What is the Genotype for individual A, B and C?
2) Give the description of the genotypes.
3) What is the Phenotype for individual A, B and C
Our Inheritance
Incomplete dominance

This condition is inherited in an 

Codominance autosomal dominant pattern, which means one
copy of the altered gene in each cell is sufficient
to cause the disorder. An affected person usuall
inherits the altered gene from one affected
parent. In rare cases, an individual
with Huntington disease does not have a parent
with the disorder.

Huntington’s disease
Huntington's disease is an inherited disease that causes
the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells
in the brain. Huntington's disease has a broad impact on a
person's functional abilities and usually results in
movement, thinking (cognitive) and psychiatric disorders.
Our Inheritance
Incomplete dominance Codominance
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs,
but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine.

Cystic Fibrosis
(recessive carrier)

If both parents are carriers of the recessive

allele for a disorder, all of their children will
face the following odds of inheriting it:
25 % chance of having the recessive disorder
50 % chance of being a healthy carrier
25 % chance of being healthy and not have the recessive allele
at all
 Cystic fibrosis
If only mother is the carrier for cystic fibrosis and father is normal.
a) What are the chances to have a baby with cystic fibrosis?
b) What are the chances to have a baby who is a carrier for cystic
fibrosis?
Pedigree Chart
The pedigree chart is a chart to illustrate a
particular trait in a family. Square represent
male and Circle represent female. The shaded
individuals are those with that traits.
Exercise
The following pedigree chart shows cystic fibrosis disease in
a family.

1) State the phenotype for individual 2.

2) Deduce the genotype for individual 8 and 9.
3) If individual 14 is marrying to a cystic fibrosis patient,
what are the chances of their children getting cystic
fibrosis?