Question

In an effort to identify the influence of genetic factors on both Type I diabetes and Type II diabetes, researchers calculated concordance rates for monozygotic twins. Concordance rates of 30–50% have been found for Type I diabetes and concordance rates of 80% for Type II. For both kinds of diabetes, dizygotic concordance rates were about 15%. What does this information suggest concerning the relative effect of genetic and environmental factors for each type of diabetes?a) Environmental factors have no role in the occurrence of either type of diabetes.b) Type II diabetes appears to be caused by a single, unidentified gene.c) Genetic influences exert a larger role in Type II diabetes than in Type I diabetes.d) Genetic factors have little or no role in the occurrence of Type I diabetes.e) Type II diabetes is primarily determined by non-genetic factors.

Answer 1

The correct answer is C) Genetic influences exert a larger role in Type II diabetes than in Type I diabetes.

Explanation:

Monozygotic or identical twins share the same genes; due to this, if twins have the same diseases or there are concordance rates, it can be concluded the disease or condition is influenced by genetics.

In the case of diabetes, the concordance rate for Type II diabetes was high (80%), which proves this type of diabetes is influenced to a large extend by genetics. Similarly, in Type I diabetes genetics seem to have an influence but this is not as strong as in Type II because the rates were lower (30-50%).

Moreover, the results of dizygotic twins (twins with different genes) show diabetes is influenced by genetics because in these twins the genetics are not the same, and therefore the concordance rate is low.