Aman with cystic fibrosis of the pancreas wishes to marry a young woman whose family has never had an individual born with the disorder. cystic fibrosis is an inborn error of metabolism, a recessive condition, in which an enzyme necessary for fat digestion is lacking. could this couple have a child with cystic fibrosis? write all of the possible genotypes for the genotypes for the man, the woman, and the children that they may have should they marry.

Cystic fibrosis is a recessive condition; meaning if a dominant condition takes over it will not be seen in the offspring. The man genotype with cystic fibrosis can only be this: cc (when c is equal to the cystic fibrosis and C is equal to not having one). The woman with no history of cystic fibrosis can possibly have either of these two genotypes: Cc or CC.

To see their offspring’s possible genotype, we’ll use a punnett square let’s start with Cc:

                C             c

c              Cc           cc

c              Cc           cc            There is a 50 % chance of the child having cystic fibrosis.

To see their offsprings possible genotype with CC:

                C             C

c              Cc           Cc

c              Cc           Cc           There is no chance that the child will have cystic fibrosis.

the answers are a and c