Question

Charles Xavier (a.k.a. Professor X) is researching mutants in the United States using his machine, Cerebro. There are many mutants with many different abilities, but every mutant power has a common epistatic “control” gene. The alleles for this gene are labeled “C” and “c”. If an individual has a gene that codes for a certain ability, that ability will not express itself unless the control gene has two recessive alleles. Knowing this, Professor X wants to track this control gene, and evaluate its mutation rate throughout the American population. Note that a mutation from C to c is a forward mutation and from c to C is a reverse mutation. Of the 318,000,000 people tracked through Cerebro, 11,943 experienced forward mutations and 25,937 experienced reverse mutations. What are the forward and reverse mutation rates? What are the C and c allele frequencies, assuming this population is in equilibrium? Are mutants on the rise or decline in the U.S. population? (5 points)

Answer 1