1.Discuss the validity of Punnett Squares in determining paternity for a child.

They are designed to predict the probability of some outcome.  In relation to punnette squares, it's a good way of understanding how biologist (geneticists) can predict the likelihood of inheriting particular traits. This also gives parents the predicted frequency of all of the potential genotypes among the offspring each time reproduction occurs. Why? Because a parent might want to know the likelihood of a child bearing a certain genetically inherited disease such as cystic fibrosis.
I hope this makes sense.

That explanation definitely makes sense but I'm having a really hard time relating it to determining paternity and whether or not that's accurate. I know that paternity can be determined using blood types but is that the only thing that can be used with a punnett square in terms of paternity testing? This is my first human biology course ever and it's a college level one. I'm just trying to understand what type of answer they're looking for. Thanks for your response. If you could clarify how it relates to paternity determination, I'd so very greatly appreciate it.

Punnett squares can help determine the possibility of traits that are passed onto offsprings. For example

Let's say the child possesses a trait that is dominant, for instance, straight hair (AA). The parents both have curly hair (aa). We can use Punnett squares to show that perhaps the child has different parents. An AA person like this child could only happen if the parents were both AA or one parent is Aa and the other parent is AA.

.....A..A
A..AA..AA
A..AA..AA

.....A..a
A..AA..Aa
A..AA..Aa

Okay so maybe I'm misunderstanding the question or looking too far into it. I'm just confused on how a punnet square can determine paternity?  Is this referring to blood types in the punnett square or just the traits that the father is contributing to the offspring that can be traced back to them? I'm sorry. I'm just clueless with all of this. I guess i"m missing how any of this has to do with the determination of paternity. I get the alleles and genes and how depending on whether or not it's dominant but how is paternity factored in to this question? I'm not understanding what they're looking for for the answer to this question. Thanks for looking into it for me tho. I appreciate all the help I can get.

They are not referring to simply blood-type - it actually can be any trait - but punnet-squares can be used to depict an offspring's blood. See the attachment...

But what I don't understand is how punnett squares are determining the paternity of a child. that's what I don't get about the original question. It's asking about the validity of it. I didn't even know it was even possible to begin with.

Yes, according to the source I provided below, blood type can be used to determine paternity of an offspring. In fact, the ABO blood type charts below can be used to predict the possibilities of paternity.

The charts below can assist you to determine either:

1. The ABO blood type of the child when the blood type of the father and the mother are known (top chart), or

 2. The ABO blood type of the father if the blood type of the child and the mother are known (bottom chart).

ABO Blood Type Calculator



ABO blood types can be complicated to understand. This is mostly due to the fact that the 'O-type' antigen is masked by the presence of an A- or B-type antigen. This is explained in the following chart, showing the different the genotypes that make up the blood types.

Genotype (DNA)   Blood Type
AO or AA   A blood type
AB   AB blood type
BO or BB   B blood type
OO   O blood type

For example, two O blood type parents can produce a child with only O blood type. Two parents with A blood type can produce a child with either A or O blood types. Two parents with B blood type can produce a child with either B or O blood type. One parent with A and another with B can produce a child with A, B, AB or O blood types. If one parent has A and another has AB, they can either produce a child with A, B or AB blood types. If one parent has A and another has O, they can either produce a child with A or O blood types.