In: Statistics and Probability
2a. A ram was bred to 6 of his daughters to see if he carries any undesirable recessive alleles. Four daughters produced twins, 1 daughter produced a single, and 1 daughter produced triplets. All lambs were normal. Assume that the dams of these 6 daughters were homozygous for desirable dominant alleles. How confidant are we that the ram does not carry any undesirable alleles?
2b. The ram in question 2a was subsequently bred to 2 known carriers of the recessive allele for spider syndrome. Homozygous recessive lambs have a severe skeletal deformity. Each of the ewes produced a set of normal twin lambs. From the combined results of the matings with his daughters in question 2a and the results of his matings to the carrier ewes here, how confident are we now that the ram does not carry the spider syndrome allele?