question archive Friedreich ataxia is an autosomal recessive disorder that causes degradation of the spinal cord, heart, pancreas, and other organs
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Friedreich ataxia is an autosomal recessive disorder that causes degradation of the spinal cord, heart, pancreas, and other organs. A couple who are both carriers for the Friedreich ataxia allele are expecting their first child. What is the probability that there child is a carrier of the Friedreich ataxia gene? *
a)25%
b)50%
c)75%
d)100%
a)25%
Step-by-step explanation
If the two parents are carriers for a recessive disorder, then the child has 1 for every 4 chances to inherit the altered gene copies (Katsanis & Jabs, 2018). This means that the child has 1 in 2 chance for every one parent such hat the child inherits two copies for every one copy of one parent due to the two kinds of chromosomes. So for the two parents, the number double to 4. 1 in 4 accounts for 25%. The child has the probability of 25% of being a carrier for the Friedreich ataxia gene.