Question

Do any genes have more than two alleles?

Answer 1

Genes:

1. Genes are the basic unit of inheritance or heredity that contains a specific set of information in the DNA that codes for an RNA or protein.
2. They carry all the necessary information that makes up the physiology and genetic makeup of a living being.
3. For example, any physical feature like eye colour, type of blood group, hair type etc. is controlled by genes.

Alleles:

1. Alleles are the two or more phenotypic variants of a given gene.
2. Two alleles are inherited by a diploid offspring from its parent.
3. An individual has a certain character controlled by a pair of alleles which can be the same from either parent (homozygous) or different (heterozygous).
4. So every individual has only one pair of alleles that exhibit its phenotypical character.
5. For example green eyes, B positive blood group, curly hairs etc.
6. Alleles are always present as a pair in a diploid individual like humans, but more than one allele can be present in a given population for the same gene.
7. There might be multiple pairs of alleles present in different individuals that have different phenotypic effects.
8. The colour coat in rabbits is an example of a single gene having multiple alleles.
9. Although an individual rabbit can have only one pair of alleles for colour coat, there are various different variants of colour coat in the population like black, albino, chinchilla, and Himalayan.