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firas kilani firas kilani
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11 years ago
that have the allele?

is it because they are recessive?
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#1
11 years ago
If it is recessive, it requires both of the pair to affect the individual.

So, the person affected would die if they had both, not being able to reproduce.


So the only way to pass the lethal allele would be through parents who are both carriers (because it is recessive). Therefor, the allele can pass through an infinite amount of generations without affecting anyone.
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#2
11 years ago
A lethal allele can affect an individual only when it is in homozygous condition.That is both parents shud contribute the defective gene.
This hardly happens.so..
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#3
11 years ago
The others are correct about recessive lethal alleles that must be homozygous to affect you. Carriers are completely normal and so the allele can exist in a lineage for long periods without ever affecting anyone.

Even a dominant lethal allele can be passed through many generations IF the allele affects you (kills you) AFTER you have reproduced. So, something like the Huntington's disease allele is a dominant lethal allele, but it usually doesn't affect a person until they are older than reproductive age.
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