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Multiple Choice
In a certain group of African people, 4% are born with sickle-cell disease (homozygous recessive). If this group is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, what percentage of the group has the selective advantage of being more resistant to malaria (heterozygous) than those individuals who are homozygous for normal hemoglobin or for sickle-cell disease?
A
20%
B
4%
C
80%
D
16%
E
32%
Verified step by step guidance
1
Understand the Hardy-Weinberg principle, which states that allele and genotype frequencies in a population will remain constant from generation to generation in the absence of evolutionary influences.
Identify the given information: 4% of the population is homozygous recessive (sickle-cell disease), which corresponds to the genotype frequency q^2.
Calculate the frequency of the recessive allele (q) using the equation q^2 = 0.04. Solve for q by taking the square root of 0.04.
Determine the frequency of the dominant allele (p) using the equation p + q = 1. Subtract the value of q from 1 to find p.
Calculate the percentage of heterozygous individuals (carriers) using the equation 2pq, which represents the genotype frequency of heterozygotes in the population. Multiply 2pq by 100 to convert it to a percentage.