Biology A
Genetics Lab
Purpose:
In this experiment, students will investigate and model how genes are passed from parent to
offspring.
Background:
Several inheritable traits or congenital conditions in humans are classical examples of
Mendelian inheritance. Their presence is controlled by a single gene that can either be
dominant or recessive. People that inherit at least one dominant gene from either parent will
present the dominant form of the trait as well. People that receive the recessive gene, from both
parents will not exhibit the dominant trait.
Consider the following traits:
● Albinism
● Cheek dimples
● Cleft chin
● Free or attached earlobes
● Face freckles
● Six fingers
● Widow’s peak
Use the links provided to learn more about what the trait looks like, and how to identify the
presence or absence of the trait on human subjects.
Note – some of these traits are inherited in a more complex way than stated, but for simplicity
purposes in this lab we’ll say they exhibit Mendelian inheritance patterns.
Questions:
Can I observe traits of siblings to determine homozygous dominant, heterozygous, or
homozygous recessive parents? How might traits vary from one family to the next?
Hypothesis:
Type your hypothesis in the space below. Come up with a testable solution to the questions
posed in the lab activity. Make sure to write your hypothesis in if, then, because format.
If I observe my family for these traits then I will be able to tell if the traits are homozygous
dominant, homozygous recessive or heterozygous because, I can fill out a punnett square and
see which on it is, or just use logic.
Materials:
1. Lab handout
2. Test subjects. 1 or more generations, for example, parent, grandparent, aunts, and
uncles, or parent and children etc. Subjects do not have to be from your own family.
You may choose to use any human subjects that are related to one another.
Procedure:
1. Locate human test subjects that are related.
2. Locate test subjects that have at least 3 siblings (but may include more). You should
have a set of parents, and their offspring. Create and fill out a data table using the data
you collect from your test subjects.
3. Add additional columns for additional test subjects.
Data:
Construct a data table below. Fill out the data table with your data you collect as well. Be sure to
include the following:
● Human subject (male parent, female parent, Sibling 1, 2 3 etc.)
● Presence or absence of the following traits:
o Albinism
o Cheek dimples
o Cleft chin
o Free or attached earlobes
o Face freckles
o Six fingers
o Widow’s peak
Trait Male Parent Female Sibling 1 Sibling 2 Sibling 3
Y/N Parent Y/N Predicted Y/N Predicted Y/N Predicted
Predicted Y/N Genotype(s) Genotype(s) Genotype(s)
Genotype(s Predicted Andy Renzo Margaret
)Dad Genotype(s)
Mom
Albinism No No no no no
Cheek No No no no no
dimples
Cleft chin no no no no no
Free or attached free free Attached free
attached
earlobes
Face no yes no yes yes
freckles
Six fingers no no no no no
Widow’s no no no no no
peak
Analysis/Conclusion:
In a paragraph, answer the following questions.
1. Accept or reject your hypothesis. I accept my hypothesis
2. Briefly explain your results. By looking at the results I could tell which one my parents
were for each trait
3. Did you see any trends in your data? If the parent had it, it was likely a kid wood
4. Did one or more traits appear more often than others? Yes, if both parents had it then it
would show up more
5. Were both parent traits represented in offspring phenotypes? Explain. Yes, for Andy, his
are technically free earlobes but are kind of attached
6. Explain the law of segregation and independent assortment and how they apply to the
inheritance of traits. In the law of segragation the alleles split so the child gets one from
each parent. Independant assortment is how they split to allow genetic variiation in
offspring.
7. Previously, you learned about meiosis. How is meiosis related to inheritance? The
number of chromosomes split so it can pair with the opposite parents chromosomes.
8. Explain any experimental errors that could have or did occur in your lab. The traits
chosen.
9. How could you modify this lab in the future? More traits