In: Biology
A woman who is colorblind who also has a colorblind daughter is suing a normal vision man for paternity. You have been called into court as an expert in genetics to testify. What do you tell the jury? Fully explain your answer. Do not just say he is or isn’t the father.
Ans. Color blindness is an X-linked recessive genetic disorder.
# A female is color-blind only when she inherits two mutated X-chromosomes for color-blindness gene (genotype = XC XC). In heterozygous condition for the gene (XC X), the female is NOT color-blind because of dosage compensation mechanisms exhibited by the normal, dominant X-chromosome.
So, being color-bling, the genotype of the female must be XC XC.
And, gametes produced by her = XC
# Males have only one X-chromosome unlike the females who have two. Presence of a single mutated chromosome is sufficient to exhibit the color-blindness phenotype in males (genotype of color blind male = Y XC).
Being of normal vision, the male have not inherited any mutated XC chromosomes.
So, genotype of normal vision male = Y X
Gametes produced by him = Y, X
# Since each parent contribute an X-chromosome to the female child. So, being a color blind female child (XC XC), she must have acquired one recessive allele of color vision (XC) from father as well as another XC from her mother.
Note that the normal vision father (Y X) can NOT contribute an XC chromosome. Therefore, the specified male can NOT be the father of a color-blind female child.