24) Please read the excerpt from a paper in the Journal of Urban Health, called

Question

24) Please read the excerpt from a paper in the Journal of Urban Health, called “Resistance to HIV Infection”. “Individuals who have two copies of this mutation (i.e., CCR5-32 homozygous or CCR5-32/32) have non-functional CCR5 receptors. This non-functionality renders CCR5-32/32 individuals immune to R5 strains of HIV. Approximately 1% of Caucasians are homozygous for CCR5-32.” Taken from J. of Urban Health, Marmor et al., volume 83 (1): 5-17; January 2006.

Please determine the frequency of heterozygosity of the CCR5 deletion 32 in the Caucasian population. Is this mutation dominant or recessive? How do you know?

Explanation / Answer

The mutation is recessive. Because if the mutation is dominant, a higher percent of people in the population must be resistant to the HIV because the inheritance of even one allele ensures the resistance. In case of recessive traits, a person need to carry two mutated alleles to inherit the mutation.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse 2
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.