Question

Hemophiliacs have blood that does not coagulate well, and they often die at a young age. The disease allele is recessive and X-linked. Which genetic possibilities can be predicted for the offspring of a hemophiliac male and a nonhemophiliac female who is a carrier for the disease?

Answer 1

The question is incomplete. The complete question is:

Question:

Hemophiliacs have blood that does not coagulate well, and they often die at a young age. The disease allele is recessive and X-linked. Which genetic possibilities can be predicted for the offspring of a hemophiliac male and a nonhemophiliac female who is a carrier for the disease?

a) All females would be hemophiliac.  

b) All males would be hemophiliac.  

c) Some males and females could be hemophiliac.  

d) All children would be hemophiliac

Answer:

c) Some males and females could be hemophiliac.  

Explanation:

Hemophilia is an X-linked recessive disorder. Let's assume that the X-linked allele "h" causes the disease. The genotype of a hemophiliac man would be X^hY and that of the carrier female would be X^hX.

A cross between hemophiliac man and carrier woman would produce progeny in following ratio = 1 Hemophiliac daughter: 1 Hemophiliac son: 1 normal but carrier daughter: 1 normal son.

Therefore, the couple is likely to produce some of their sons and daughters affected by the disorder.