Kendrie suffers from sickle cell anemia. She is not just a carrier of the illness, but she actually has the disease itself. Which of the following best describes Kendrie's red blood cell alleles?
A) heterozygous
B) genotypical
C) homozygous
D) phenotypical

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Kendrie's red blood cell alleles are homozygous, meaning that both of her alleles for the sickle cell gene are the same (hemoglobin S). If she were heterozygous, she would only have one sickle cell gene and one normal gene (hemoglobin A) and would be a carrier of the disease but not have it herself. Genotypical and phenotypical are not accurate terms for describing the alleles themselves.

Kendrie Suffers from Sickle Cell Anemia