Question

Write the two general laws of inheritance proposed by Mendel.

Hint:

Think about what happens to a gene's two alleles when gametes form, and what shows up when they are different.

Answer 1

Step 1: Recall Mendel's experimental base.
Mendel worked out the rules of inheritance from his pea plant crosses, and from the results he stated general laws that describe how factors (now called genes) pass from parents to offspring.

Step 2: State the Law of Dominance.
In a hybrid carrying two different alleles of a gene, one allele (the dominant one) hides the effect of the other (the recessive one) in the F1 generation, so only the dominant trait shows up.

Step 3: State the Law of Segregation.
The two alleles of a gene in a parent separate (segregate) from each other during gamete formation, so each gamete carries only one of the two alleles, never both.

Final Answer:
Mendel's two general laws are the Law of Dominance and the Law of Segregation.