The chance that a fourth child of III–1 and III–2 is male, and affected with Tay Sachs disease, is:
A - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 6 - 2003 - Paper 1
Question 6
The chance that a fourth child of III–1 and III–2 is male, and affected with Tay Sachs disease, is:
A. \( \frac{1}{8} \)
B. \( \frac{1}{4} \)
C. \( \frac{1}{2} \)
D... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:The chance that a fourth child of III–1 and III–2 is male, and affected with Tay Sachs disease, is:
A - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 6 - 2003 - Paper 1
Step 1
Determine the Probability of Being Male
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Answer
To find the chance that the child is male, we know that the probability of having a male child is ( \frac{1}{2} ).
Step 2
Determine the Probability of Being Affected by Tay Sachs Disease
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Answer
Tay Sachs disease is an autosomal recessive condition. If both parents are carriers (heterozygous), the probability of having an affected child is ( \frac{1}{4} ).
Step 3
Combine the Probabilities
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Answer
Since the events of being male and being affected by Tay Sachs are independent, we multiply the probabilities together:
