In a hypothetical scenario, three women claim that Bill Clinton is the father of their children. Bill has blue eyes. The eye colors of the women and their children are as follows: 1) a blue-eyed mother with a brown-eyed child, 2) a brown-eyed mother with a blue-eyed child, and 3) a brown-eyed mother with a brown-eyed child. Considering that the gene for brown eyes is dominant over the gene for blue eyes, let's evaluate whether it is possible for Bill to have fathered each child. 1) For the blue-eyed mother with a brown-eyed child: If both parents have blue eyes (bb), they cannot have a brown-eyed child (B_) because neither can contribute the dominant allele for brown eyes. 2) For the brown-eyed mother with a blue-eyed child: This is possible if the mother is heterozygous for eye color (Bb) and contributes her recessive blue allele (b) to the child, and Bill, who has blue eyes (bb), also contributes a blue allele. 3) For the brown-eyed mother with a brown-eyed child: This is also possible, regardless of whether the mother is homozygous (BB) or heterozygous (Bb), as Bill would contribute a blue allele (b), and the brown allele (B) from the mother would be expressed in the child's phenotype.

Question

In a hypothetical scenario, three women claim that Bill Clinton is the father of their children. Bill has blue eyes. The eye colors of the women and their children are as follows: 1) a blue-eyed mother with a brown-eyed child, 2) a brown-eyed mother with a blue-eyed child, and 3) a brown-eyed mother with a brown-eyed child. Considering that the gene for brown eyes is dominant over the gene for blue eyes, let's evaluate whether it is possible for Bill to have fathered each child. 1) For the blue-eyed mother with a brown-eyed child: If both parents have blue eyes (bb), they cannot have a brown-eyed child (B_) because neither can contribute the dominant allele for brown eyes. 2) For the brown-eyed mother with a blue-eyed child: This is possible if the mother is heterozygous for eye color (Bb) and contributes her recessive blue allele (b) to the child, and Bill, who has blue eyes (bb), also contributes a blue allele. 3) For the brown-eyed mother with a brown-eyed child: This is also possible, regardless of whether the mother is homozygous (BB) or heterozygous (Bb), as Bill would contribute a blue allele (b), and the brown allele (B) from the mother would be expressed in the child's phenotype.

Biology · Middle School · Thu Feb 04 2021

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Answered on Tue Dec 12 2023

For the blue-eyed mother with a brown-eyed child: It is highly unlikely that Bill is the father of the brown-eyed child if he has blue eyes. Since eye color is inherited, a child can only have brown eyes if at least one of the parents carries the gene for brown eyes. Blue eyes are a recessive trait (bb), so if Bill is indeed the father and both he and the mother have blue eyes, they can't pass on the dominant allele (B) for brown eyes required to produce a brown-eyed child.

2) For the brown-eyed mother with a blue-eyed child: It is possible for Bill to be the father of this child. If the brown-eyed mother carries the gene for blue eyes (Bb), there is a chance she could pass on the blue allele (b) to her child. Since Bill has blue eyes (bb), he can only pass on the blue allele. If the child inherits a blue allele from each parent, they would have blue eyes (bb), despite one parent having brown eyes.

3) For the brown-eyed mother with a brown-eyed child: It is possible for Bill to be the father of this child as well. A child with brown eyes could have a genotype of either (BB) or (Bb). Since the child only needs one dominant allele (B) for brown eyes to express the brown-eye phenotype, the mother could pass either a brown (B) or blue (b) allele to the child. Bill would pass on a blue allele (b). So if the child's genotype is (Bb), having inherited the dominant brown allele from the mother and the recessive blue allele from Bill, the child would present with brown eyes.

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