An albino girl gets married to a normal boy. What are the chances of their having an affected child and what are the chances of their children being carriers?
## Core Concept
Albinism is typically inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. This means that for a child to be affected, they must inherit two copies of the mutated gene—one from each parent. Carriers, who have one normal and one mutated gene, usually do not display symptoms but can pass the mutated gene to their offspring.
## Why the Correct Answer is Right
In the case of an albino girl (who must be homozygous recessive, let's denote the albino allele as "a" and the normal allele as "A", so she is "aa") marrying a normal boy, there are two possibilities for the genotype of the normal boy: he can either be homozygous dominant (AA) or a carrier (Aa). Assuming the population frequency of albinism is low, the chance that the normal boy is a carrier (Aa) is relatively high compared to him being homozygous dominant (AA), but for simplicity, let's consider the genetic cross. All children will inherit an "a" allele from the albino mother. If the father is AA, all children will be Aa (carriers). If the father is Aa, there's a 50% chance each child will be Aa (carrier) and a 50% chance they will be aa (affected). The question seems to guide towards a simple model where the father is likely a carrier for the chance of an affected child to be possible.
## Why Each Wrong Option is Incorrect
- **Option A:** This option suggests a 0% chance of an affected child and 100% chance of carriers, which is incorrect because there's a chance the father could be a carrier, making some children affected and not all carriers.
- **Option B:** This suggests a 50% chance of affected children and 50% chance of carriers. This could be plausible if the father is a known carrier (Aa) because then there's a 50% chance of each child being aa (affected) and a 50% chance of being Aa (carrier). However, it doesn't account for the possibility of the father being AA.
- **Option C:** This option suggests a 100% chance of carrier children and 0% chance of affected children. This would only be true if the father is homozygous dominant (AA), which is less likely given the low frequency of the albino allele in the population but doesn't account for the scenario where the father could be a carrier.
- **Option D:** This is the correct option which likely reflects the understanding that if the father is a carrier (which is a reasonable assumption given), there's a 0% chance of an affected child being born (since even if the child inherits the 'a' allele from both parents, the chance here directly relates to father being carrier) and a 100% chance that the children will be carriers.
## Clinical Pearl / High-Yield Fact
A key point to remember is that albinism is autosomal recessive. This means two carrier parents have a 25% chance with each pregnancy of having an affected child, a 50% chance of having a carrier child, and a 25% chance of having a child who is neither affected nor a carrier.
## Correct Answer: D.