Question

Eyelash length is an inherited trait. in the human population, there is an eyelash length gene. there are two possible variants of this gene—an allele for long eyelashes (> 1cm) and an allele for short eyelashes (1 cm or less). how many eyelash length alleles does an individual have in one of her/his somatic cells

Answer 1

Humans, like all mammals, are diploid organisms. This means that we have two copies of each chromosome. In diploid organisms, one somatic cell would have two copies of each gene. This means that in one somatic cell, an individual carries two copies of alleles for long eyelashes, and also two copies of alleles for short eyelashes.