AP Biology
Basic Genetics Problems
Complete the following problems. Show all work in your notebook! I would suggest printing these, so you
have a hard copy to help when we go over these in class.
1. A student has a penny, a nickel, a dime, and a quarter. She flips them all simultaneously and checks for heads
or tails.
a. What is the probability that all four coins will come up heads?
b. She again flips all four coins. What is the probability that she will get four heads both times?
2. For the following crosses, indicate the probability of obtaining the indicated genotype in an offspring. Remember
it is easiest to treat each gene separately as a monohybrid cross and then combine the probabilities by
multiplying. (AKA the forked line method)
a. AAbb X AaBb → AAbb
b. AaBb X AABB → aaBB
c. AABbcc X aabbCC → AaBbCc
d. AaBbCc X AaBbcc → aabbcc
3. The genotype of all F1 individuals in a tetrahybrid cross is AaBbCcDd. Assuming independent assortment of
these four genes, what are the probabilities that F2 offspring would have the following genotypes?
a. aabbccdd
b. AaBbCcDd
c. AABBCCDD
d. AaBBccDd
e. AaBBCCdd
4. Flower position, stem length, and seed shape were three characters that Mendel chose to study. Each is controlled
by an independently assorting gene and has dominant and recessive expression as follows:
Trait Dominant Recessive
Flower position Axial (A) Terminal (a)
Stem length Tall(T) Short (t)
Seed shape Round (R) Wrinkled (r)
If a plant that is heterozygous for all three traits were allowed to self pollinate, what proportion of the offspring would be
expected to be as follows? (NOTE: Use the rules of probability and show your work.)
a. Homozygous for the three dominant traits
b. Homozygous for the three recessive traits
c. Heterozygous for the three traits
d. Homozygous for axial and tall, heterozygous for round
5. Polydactyly (extra fingers and toes) is due to a dominant gene. A father is polydactyl, the mother has the normal
phenotype, and they have had one normal child. P = polydactyl; p = normal
a. What is the genotype of the father?
b. What is the genotype of the mother?
c. What is the probability that a second child will have the normal number of digits?
6. In dogs, black (B) is dominant to chestnut (b), and solid color (S) is dominant to spotted (s). What are the genotypes
of the parents that would produce a cross with 3/8 black solid, 3/8 black spotted, 1/8 chestnut solid, and 1/8 chestnut
spotted puppies? (HINT: do two Punnett squares, but start on the inside and work outwards.)
7. A woman with the rare recessive disease phenylketonuria (PKU), who had been treated with a diet having low levels
of the amino acid phenylalanine, was told that it was unlikely her children would inherit PKU because her husband did
not have it. However, her first child had PKU.
a) What is the most likely explanation?
b) Assuming this explanation is true, what is the probability of her second child having PKU?
8. In an examination of Mendel’s principles,a strain of light brown mice was crossed with a strain of dark brown mice. All
F1 were dark brown. In the F2, 46 were dark brown and 15 were light brown. Is this consistent with the law of
segregation? Explain.
9. A black guinea pig crossed with an albino one gave 12 black offspring. When the albino was crossed with a second
black one, 7 blacks and 5 albinos were obtained. What is the genotype for:
a. The first black parent?
b. The second black parent?
[Link] albino parent?
d. The first black offspring?
e. The second black offspring?
10. The genotype of all F1 individuals in a tetrahybrid cross is AaBbCcDd. Assuming independent assortment of these
four genes, what are the probabilities that F2 offspring would have the following genotypes? (Same as number 3 for the
first offspring)
a. aabbccdd or AABBCCDD
b. AaBbCcDd or aabbCcDd
c. AABBCCDD or AaBbCcDd
d. AaBBccDd or aabbccdd
e. AaBBCCdd or AabbccDD