Question

The MN blood group is another blood group found on human red blood cells. There are only two alleles, M and N, which are codominant. In a population of humans there are 80 individuals that are MM, 150 MN, and 270 NN. Using the allele counting method, determine the allele frequencies for M and N.

Answer 1

Given figures :

Number of MM blood group individuals = 80

Number of MN blood group individuals = 150

Number of NN blood group individuals = 270

Total individuals = 500

500 individuals = 1000 alleles

Frequency of an allele = Number of occurrences of an allele in the population/ total number of alleles in the population

Frequency of allele M = ((80 * 2) + 150 ) / 1000 = 310/1000 = 0.31

Frequency of allele N = ((270 * 2) + 150) /1000 = 690/1000 = 0.69

Hence, frequency of allele M is 0.31 and frequency of allele N is 0.69