In Europe, approximately 4% of people are red-haired, mostly due to a recessive mutation in the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R).
If the population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, what is the likelihood that a non-redheaded European is a carrier for the MC1Rr allele? (For the purpose of this problem, assume all redheads and carriers are mutant for the same MC1R allele). A: 22%
B: 33%
C: 11%
D: 44%
The 4% population is red-hair due to the recessive mutation in melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R).
Since, the population is in Hardy-Weinberg equillibrium- laet the frequency of recessive allele with red - hair is 'q' and the frequency of dominant allele in the population is 'p'.
q=0.2
According to hardy-weinberg equillibrium
(p+q)=1
p=1-q
p=1-0.2
p=0.8.
The total population with non red hair is calculated by
=
= 0.64 + 0.32
= 0.96
The percentage of the population with non red headed carrier for MC1Rr is calculated by: