Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A woman's brother has haemophilia. Their father and mother are healthy. The woman has two healthy sons and no daughters. Haemophilia is X-linked and recessive.
In a three-point test cross, the two commonest classes are parental and the two rarest are double crossovers. The gene that switches in a double crossover is in the middle. A recombination frequency counts the single and the double crossovers of the interval. The coefficient of coincidence is the observed divided by the expected double crossovers.
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Given. The brother is , so the mother is . The father is .
Plan. Find the first chance. Then weigh two cases against the information of the sons.
Step 1. (a) The woman gets one X from her mother, which carries h with a chance of . So she is a carrier with a chance of .
Step 2. (b) The two cases. Carrier with two healthy sons: . Not a carrier with two healthy sons: . The chance of being a carrier is .
Step 3. (c) For the next child to be a haemophilic son, she must be a carrier (), and then the chance of a haemophilic son is . So .
Answer: ; ; .
Check. The chance in (b) is lower than in (a), because healthy sons are more likely if she is not a carrier.
Watch out. The chance of a haemophilic son from a known carrier would be . The includes the doubt about whether she is a carrier.
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