SOC 207 Midterm Exam: Answers to Part II Mendelian Genetics

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Sociology 207Online Fall 2017
Answers to Part II Mendelian Genetics:
In the case presented, it was argued by the lawyer of one of Kennedy’s heirs that the lack of the phenotype displaying Widow’s Peak in Trump presents a fact that he is not the son of Monroe and JFK. This argument is indeed valid especially if genetics and dominant inheritance is considered in the case. According to Summers and Arnold (2017), widow’s peak is a characteristic that is considered to be “dominant trait”, as compared to the having a normal hairline. Since this is a dominant trait, then it means that even when only one allele of this trait is present, then the phenotype would definitely result in offsprings having the trait. More specifically, this could be shown through visualization via the Punnett Square CITATION Knond \l 1033 (KnowGenetics.org, n.d.). As the dominant allele could be represented with a big W, the recessive one could then be represented with a small w. Remember that for the big W, only one is needed to be able to express the trait. A combination of the allele with both “WW” refers to homozygous dominant, while a combination of two “ww” are homozygous recessive. In any case, when these two combines together and the results would be a Ww, or a heterozygous recessive, which still express a widow’s peak in the offsprings’ phenotype. Therefore, what makes it a valid case is that since JFK has no widow’s peak (ww) and Marilyn Monroe has (Ww), then the resulting offspring should one hundred percent be a Heterozygous recessive (Ww), which would still possess a widow’s peak (a characteristic that Trump doesn’t have).
Part III Short answer (5 points each)
Answer (or at least attempt to answer) the short answer questions in this section. Use complete, grammatically correct sentences. Good answers should be in the range of one to five sentences.
1. According to Gregor Mendel’s model of dominant-recessive inheritance, what can we reasonably assume will happen when a group of heterozygous Tt tall pea plants are mated with each other? What proportion of the offspring will be tall? What proportion will be short?
Based on the Gregor Mendel’s model of dominant-recessive inheritance, pairing two heterozygous Tt with one another, would have a 75% chance of having a tall offspring and a 25% chance of having a short one. This is because in pea plants, the dominant gene is the T (Tall), while t (short) is recessive. When placed in a Punnett Square, this would then result with a ¼ homozygous TT, ½ Heterozygous Tt, and ¼ homozygous tt.
2. How might a social Darwinist, such as Herbert Spencer, use the principles of genetic inheritance to explain social class hierarchy in Britain during the 19th century?
Using the principles of Social Darwinism, the social hierarchy in Britain could be explained as the result of some people having better genes than others. On one hand, Social Darwinists would view those with better genes as having more superior qualities (e.g. frugality, determination, hard work, etc.), placing them on the top of the social ladder. On the other hand, the same theory would pose t...