Understanding Heterozygosity: A Key Concept in Genetics and Inheritance.

Heterozygous

An organism that has two different alleles for a trait

Heterozygous is a genetic term that refers to an individual who carries two different alleles, or versions of a particular gene, at a particular locus or location within their DNA. The terms “heterozygous” and “homozygous” describe the genetic makeup of an organism with respect to a specific trait.

For example, if we consider the trait of eye color, there are two alleles that determine this trait: one for brown eyes (B) and another for blue eyes (b). If a person has two copies of the brown allele (BB) at the eye color locus, they are referred to as homozygous for that trait. If the person has one brown allele and one blue allele (Bb), they are heterozygous for eye color.

The inheritance of traits from parents to offspring is governed by the laws of Mendelian genetics. In a heterozygous individual, the dominant allele (in this case, B) will typically be expressed in the phenotype, while the recessive allele (b) will be masked.

Overall, the concept of heterozygosity is important in understanding how genetic variation arises within and among populations, and how genetic traits are passed down from generation to generation.

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