Q4CC In 2005, Icelandic scientists re... [FREE SOLUTION]

Chapter 21: Q4CC (page 440)

In 2005, Icelandic scientists reported finding a large chromosomal inversion present in 20% of northern Europeans, and they noted that Icelandic women with this inversion had significantly more children than women without it. What would you expect to happen to the frequency of this inversion in the Icelandic population in future generations?

Short Answer

Expert verified

The inversion in women shows a higher rate of offspring. The occurrence of the inversion would increase within the Icelandic population. Higher reproduction would also bring an increase in the population with this inversion.

Hence, one would see that the inversion would persist in the population, and the occurrence would also increase.

Step by step solution

Inversion

The chromosomal rearrangement that results from an abrupt breakage and inverted reattachment of the genetic component is called inversion. The genome-wide pattern is severely affected due to such events; as a result, the gene expression gets affected.

Occurrence and persistence of the inversion

The study shows that chromosomal inversion is present in almost 20% population of northern Europe. Among this population, the Icelandic women had a greater reproducibility than the women lacking this particular inversion. More offspring is an advantage to overall reproduction and development.

Therefore, the inversion would act as an advantage. With the increase in the population, due to higher reproduction, the inversion would appear more frequently. Hence, theinversion would persist in the population.

Effect of inversion in the population

The inversion would continue to appear in the population. As the inversion is a chromosomal rearrangement that contributes to altering the overall changes in a genome, one can observe from the given scenario that the inversion positively affects reproduction and development.

For these reasons, the inversion would tend to persist in the given population.