If both parents are carriers for thalassemia, which is an autosomal recessive disorder, what are the chances of pregnancy resulting in an affected child ?
- 100%
- 25%
- no chance
- 50%
Answer
(2) 25%
Solution
Let the normal allele be A and the thalassemia allele be a. Both carrier parents are Aa.
Aa Aa 1 AA : 2 Aa : 1 aa
⇒ Only the homozygous recessive aa child is affected.
∴ Chance of an affected child = 14 = 25\%
Answer: (2)