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Principles Of Inheritance And Variation

Question
CBSEENBI12001698

Explain the genetic basis of blood grouping in human population.

Solution

In humans, the blood groups are controlled by a gene called gene I. It has three alleles, namely IA, IB and i.  The plasma membrane of the red blood cells has sugar polymers that protrude from the surface and the kind of sugar is controlled by the gene. The alleles IA and IB produce a slightly different sugar while i do not produce any sugar. Since humans are diploid, each person can have different combinations of the three alleles. The alleles IA and IB are dominant over i therefore a combination of IA and iproduce blood group A, IB and I produce blood group B. The combination of IA, IB produces blood group AB which has both A and B types of sugar, because of co-dominance. The combination of IA and IA produce blood group A, IB and IB produce B blood group.

The type of blood group produced by the different combinations is shown in the table below: