Question

if a mom with ear lobes that were unattached at the bottom (ee) had a child with the father who had attached ear lobes (ee), what is the chance that the kid would have attached ear lobes? hint: (do the punnett square first and then count how many end up being ee)

Explanation:

Step1: Determine the genotypes

Assume the allele for unattached ear lobes is \(E\) (dominant) and for attached ear lobes is \(e\) (recessive). The mother with unattached ear lobes (but can pass on the recessive allele) has genotype \(Ee\), and the father with attached ear lobes has genotype \(ee\).

Step2: Create the Punnett square

	\(E\)	\(e\)
\(e\)	\(Ee\)	\(ee\)

Step3: Calculate the probability

Out of 4 possible offspring genotypes (\(Ee, ee, Ee, ee\)), 2 have the \(ee\) genotype (attached ear lobes). The probability is \(\frac{2}{4}=\frac{1}{2}\) or \(50\%\)

Answer:

\(\frac{1}{2}\) or \(50\%\)