How are the results of the crosses differ if the red allele was dominant over the
Answers
It is not always possible to determine what genes an organism is carrying by simply looking at its appearance. After all, gene expression is a complex process that is dependant on many environmental and hereditary factors. For example, Gregor Mendel's experiments with pea plants showed how dominant traits can mask recessive ones, thus causing him to muse how "rash it must be... to draw from the external resemblances of hybrids conclusions as to their internal nature" (Mendel, 1866).
Today, scientists use the word "phenotype" to refer to what Mendel termed "external resemblance" and the word "genotype" to refer to an organism's "internal nature." Thus, to restate Mendel's musing in modern terms, we cannot infer an organism's genotype by simply observing its phenotype. Indeed, Mendel showed that phenotypic traits can be hidden in one generation, yet reemerge in subsequent generations. This occurs because some alleles are dominant over others, which means that their phenotype will mask the phenotype associated with the recessive alleles.
Answer:
It is not always possible to determine what genes an organism is carrying by simply looking at its appearance. After all, gene expression is a complex process that is dependant on many environmental and hereditary factors. For example, Gregor Mendel's experiments with pea plants showed how dominant traits can mask recessive ones, thus causing him to muse how "rash it must be... to draw from the external resemblances of hybrids conclusions as to their internal nature" (Mendel, 1866).
Today, scientists use the word "phenotype" to refer to what Mendel termed "external resemblance" and the word "genotype" to refer to an organism's "internal nature." Thus, to restate Mendel's musing in modern terms, we cannot infer an organism's genotype by simply observing its phenotype. Indeed, Mendel showed that phenotypic traits can be hidden in one generation, yet reemerge in subsequent generations. This occurs because some alleles are dominant over others, which means that their phenotype will mask the phenotype associated with the recessive alleles.