Syllabus Edition

First teaching 2023

First exams 2025

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Inheritance (HL IB Biology)

Topic Questions

1
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1 mark

Which of the following is not an example of how the external environment can influence gene expression?

  • Fur colouration of Siamese cats

  • Petal colour of snapdragons

  • Skin colouration after sun exposure

  • Sea turtle eggs hatching as females if incubated at 30°C

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21 mark

Which option correctly completes the sentence below?

Multiple alleles are present _________.

  • At the same locus on homologous chromosomes

  • At different loci on different chromosomes

  • At different loci on the same chromosome

  • On sister chromatids

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31 mark

The diploid chromosome number of a koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is 16.

How many autosomes are there in a koala's egg cell?

  • 7

  • 8

  • 14

  • 32

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4
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1 mark

Two pea plants are heterozygous for two traits, pod and flower colour. The dominant trait for flower colour is purple and the recessive is white. The dominant trait for pod colour is green and the recessive is yellow. 

If they were to breed what would the ratio of their offspring's traits be?

The ratio is as follows: purple green : purple yellow : white green : white yellow.

  • 2 : 1 : 1 : 2

  • 1 : 1 : 1 : 1

  • 9 : 3 : 3 : 1

  • 3 : 3 : 1 : 1

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51 mark

In a newt, normal tail length is dominant to short tail length and green scales are dominant to white scales.
A heterozygous normal tailed newt with green scales was crossed with a short tailed newt with white scales. A large number of offspring were produced. They were either normal tailed with green scales or short tailed with white scales in equal number.
What is the most likely cause of this pattern?

  • The genes are codominant

  • Crossing over has occurred

  • The two genes are linked

  • The traits are polygenic

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61 mark

Hair colour is a trait controlled by polygenic inheritance. Which statement is correct?

  • Hair colour shows discontinuous variation

  • Individuals show a wide range of phenotypes for hair colour

  • No two people have the same hair colour

  • Children always have the same hair colour as one of their parents

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71 mark

A test cross resulted in these recombinants:

linked-genes-question

Which of the following was the parental test cross?

  • linked-genes-option-a

  • linked-genes-option-a

  • linked-genes-option-a

  • linked-genes-option-a

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81 mark

In fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) brown body is dominant to black body. 

If scientists want to find out the genotype of a fly with a brown body what genotype would they cross the fly with? 

  • Homozygous recessive

  • Heterozygous recessive

  • Homozygous dominant

  • Heterozygous dominant

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91 mark

Which of the following statements correctly describes co-dominance?

  • The alleles are both expressed to an equal extent in the phenotype.

  • Two alleles are 'blended together'.

  • One allele is dominant over the other. 

  • Neither allele is expressed in the phenotype. 

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101 mark

Which option correctly completes the sentence below?

The segregation of alleles occurs during  _________ in eukaryotic organisms

  • Mitosis

  • Binary fission

  • Meiosis

  • DNA replication before cell division

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11
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Which of the following statements is a feature of X-linked genetic diseases in humans?

  • Females can’t inherit the defective gene as they don’t possess a Y chromosome.

  • Females can either be normal, a carrier or have the disease.

  • Males can be a carrier for the defective allele.

  • Females can only be heterozygous for the defective gene.

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1
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1 mark

Which of the following statements are true for the determination of sex?

  1. The chromosomes inherited through the maternal gametes determine the sex of the offspring
  2. Females have a larger quantity of DNA than males
  3. Sex is determined by the 23rd pair of chromosomes in humans
  4. Sex of an individual can be identified using an image taken of chromosomes during interphase
  • I and II only

  • III only

  • II and III only

  • I, III and IV only

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2
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1 mark

In rabbits, brown coat is dominant to black coat and long ears are dominant to short ears. Two rabbits are heterozygous for both characteristics.

What is the probability that their first offspring will have black coats and short ears?

  • 0

  • 1/16

  • 4/16

  • 9/16

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31 mark

Which of the following processes results in the production of recombinants?

I. Crossing over of bivalents
II. Independent assortment during meiosis I
III. Independent assortment during meiosis II 
IV. Mutation

  • I only

  • I and II only

  • I, II and III only

  • I, II, III and IV.

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4
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1 mark

The inheritance pattern of two separate genes was investigated in a double-heterozygous cross in domestic cats (Felis catus). A chi-squared test of phenotypic ratios of the two separate genes results in a χ2 value of 7.96.

The table below shows the critical values of the chi squared distribution. 

Degrees of freedom Probability that the difference between observed and expected results is due to chance
0.1 0.05 0.01 0.001
1 2.71 3.84 6.64 10.83
2 4.60 5.99 9.21 13.82
3 6.25 7.82 11.34 16.27
4 7.78 9.49 13.28 18.46

Which row of the table best describes a conclusion that can be drawn from this data?

 

Probability that the results

are due to chance (High / Low)

Are the two genes linked?

(Yes/No)

A

Low

Yes

B

Low

No

C

High

Yes

D

High

No

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51 mark

In a breeding experiment, a tall, round seeded (homozygous dominant) pea plant was crossed with a short, wrinkled seeded (homozygous recessive) pea plant. The F1 dihybrid plants were then used in a test cross.

If the genes are always linked and no crossing over occurs, what would be the predicted ratio in the F2 generation?

  • 9 : 3 : 3 : 1

  • 1 : 1 : 1 : 1

  • 3 : 1

  • 1 : 1

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61 mark

In a variety of roses, P is the allele for pink petal colour and D is the allele for double flower.

Which cross will give a 1:1:1:1 ratio of phenotypes in the offspring?

  • PpDd x ppDd

  • PpDd x PpDd

  • PPdd x ppDD

  • Ppdd x ppDd

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71 mark

The pedigree chart below shows the inheritance of Tay-Sachs disease which is an autosomal recessive trait, characterised by neurological problems caused by the death of nerve cells. 

In the pedigree chart, a filled in circle or square means the individual is affected and shows the genetic condition.

What is the probability that individuals 3 and 4 will have another child with Tay-Sachs disease?

UpV6A5dP_h-2

  • 25%

  • 50%

  • 75%

  • 100%

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81 mark

Which statements best explain why the ABO blood system in humans is an example of co-dominance?

  1. Allele IA and the allele IB are both expressed in the heterozygote/AB type blood.
  2. Neither allele IA or the allele IB can mask the expression of the other allele.
  3. There are three alleles of the gene that controls the blood group.
  4. There are more than two blood groups.

  • All of them.

  • I. II. and III.

  • I. and II.  

  • II. and III.

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91 mark

Two parents with normal factor VIII have a child with haemophilia.

Which is the correct statement?

  • The mother is normal but the father carries the defective gene.

  • Both parents are carriers for the defective gene.

  • Only the mother is a carrier for the defective gene.

  • The child must have been female.

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11 mark

Identical twins have the same DNA (genotype) but often display many observable physical differences (phenotype). Studies on twins have shown that one twin can be more susceptible to diseases like cancer or diabetes.

Which of the following statements best explains these differences between identical twins?

  • One twin is more prone to random mutations of DNA.

  • Epigenetic changes can affect the structure of proteins.

  • One twin inherited epigenetic modifications from a parent.

  • An organism's environment can influence gene expression patterns.

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21 mark

Which of the following statements about genes is not correct?

  • A gene may be found at a different locus in different individuals.

  • A gene is a section of DNA that codes for one polypeptide.

  • Genes are heritable factors.

  • The number of genes that a species has is not directly proportional to the size or complexity of the organism.

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31 mark

Which of the following statements about alleles are correct?

  1. New alleles can arise through mutation.
  2. There are two different versions, or alleles, of every gene.
  3. Every eukaryotic cell contains two alleles of every gene.
  • I only

  • I and II only

  • I and III only

  • II and III only

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41 mark

Which of the following explains why the father determines the sex of offspring and not the mother?

  • Only sperm cells contain the sex chromosomes.

  • Fathers can only pass on the Y chromosome to their offspring.

  • Females can only pass on the X chromosome to their offspring.

  • Female gametes only contain autosomes.

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51 mark

Which of the following is not correct regarding online gene databases?

  • Online databases can be used to find the locus of a human gene.

  • Online databases can be used to find out the chromosome on which a gene is located.

  • Online databases can be used to determine the evolutionary relationships of organisms.

  • Online databases can only be used by scientists with special access.

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61 mark

In humans, there are three alleles that determine blood groups, namely IO, IA and IB. The frequency of the IO allele in a particular population was found to be 0.72. There was an equal abundance of the remaining two alleles.

What would the frequency of the IB allele be in this population?

  • 0.44

  • 0.28

  • 0.14

  • 0.07

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71 mark

If two genes are said to be linked, what is meant by the term 'linked'?

  • Two genes are both at the same loci on a chromosome

  • Two genes both occupy the same chromosome

  • They are both alleles of the same gene

  • The phenotypes of the genes are both influenced by the gender of their owner

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81 mark

Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) exhibit characteristics governed by the following pairs of alleles.

M = brown body, m = black body

R = red eyes, r = white eyes

These pairs of alleles can be assumed to be unlinked.

If two double-heterozygous flies are crossed and produce 160 offspring, what is the likely number of offspring with red eyes and a black body?

  • 90

  • 120

  • 30

  • 10

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91 mark

Events in meiosis play an important role in determining the inheritance of alleles. Which row of the table states the correct words to name the processes being described?

 

The orientation of chromosomes pairing up in prophase I

Chromosome are pulled towards the poles of the cell in anaphase I

A

Synapsis

Assortment

B

Segregation

Assortment

C

Assortment

Segregation

D

Segregation

Cytokinesis

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101 mark

Two linked genes are denoted by the dominant alleles G and H. Their recessive counterparts are g and h respectively.

Which way of writing the allele combinations on their chromosomes best displays the linkage between the two genes?

  • q1a_10-2_inheritance_ib_biology_hl_mcq

  • q1b_10-2_inheritance_ib_biology_hl_mcq

  • q1c_10-2_inheritance_ib_biology_hl_mcq

  • q1d_10-2_inheritance_ib_biology_hl_mcq

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111 mark

The inheritance pattern of two separate genes was investigated in a double-heterozygous cross in watercress plants. A chi-squared test of phenotypic ratios of the two separate genes results in a χ2 value of 3.5.

At a 5% probability level, the critical value of chi-squared is 7.8 for an experiment of this nature.

Which row of the table best describes a conclusion that can be drawn from this data?

 

Probability that the Results

Are Due to Chance (High / Low)

Are the two genes linked?

(Yes/No)

A

High

Yes

B

High

No

C

Low

Yes

D

Low

No

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121 mark

Which row(s) below give(s) correct statements about continuous variation?

I.

Most individuals are close to the mean value of a trait, with fewer individuals at the extremes

II.

There are distinct categories of the trait with no intermediate values

III.

A continuously variable trait tends to be regulated by multiple genes

IV.

Individuals are distributed approximately evenly and the environment cannot influence the trait

  • I only

  • I, III and IV

  • II and IV

  • I and III

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131 mark

Over time, many dihybrid cross experiments of autosomally-linked genes in sweet pea plants (Lathyrus odoratus) have been carried out by reputed scientists.

Which of the following best explains the presence of some non-parental phenotypes in the offspring of such crosses?

  • Crossing over has occurred, leading to the production of recombinant plants

  • The scientists made errors such as not cleaning the small paint brush that they used to transfer pollen grains between plants

  • Independent assortment had occurred so unusual phenotypes are to be expected

  • Only plants of one gender exhibit the parental phenotypes due to linkage

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141 mark

Long hair in a species of rabbit is caused by the presence of the allele HL. These rabbits have either very long hair or moderately long hair. The 'wild-type' short-haired rabbit possesses the allele HS. The diagram below shows the results of two crosses involving one female and two male rabbits. q10_10-2_inheritance_ib_biology_hl_mcq

Which row of the table below shows the phenotypes of the rabbits with the genotypes HLHL and HLHS?

 

HLHL

HLHS

A

Long hair

Moderately long hair

B

Moderately long hair

Short hair

C

Moderately long hair

Long hair

D

Long hair

Short hair

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151 mark

A species of plant can have either blue or white flowers. The colour of the flower is controlled by a single gene where the dominant allele codes for blue flowers. 

Two heterozygous plants are crossed; which of the observed outcomes matches up most accurately to the expected ratio of blue to white flowers. 

  Blue White
A 93 46
B 77 203
C 107 33
D 127 42

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161 mark

Two parents have an equal chance of having a child with blood groups A, B, AB, or O.

What are the genotypes of the parents?

  • AB, AO

  • AO, BO

  • AB, OO

  • AB, AB

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171 mark

A woman is a carrier of haemophilia; her husband does not have haemophilia. 

What are the possible genotypes of their children?

  Sons Daughters
A All sufferers All carriers
B Half healthy All carriers
C Half healthy All healthy
D Half healthy Half carriers

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181 mark

The pedigree diagram shows the inheritance of cystic fibrosis across 3 generations.

biology-3-3-q7-ib-hl-

Identify the genotype of the individuals labelled 1, 2 and 3 in the pedigree diagram.

 

1 2 3
A Heterozygous Homozygous dominant Heterozygous
B Homozygous recessive Homozygous dominant Heterozygous
C Homozygous recessive Heterozygous Heterozygous
D Heterozygous Homozygous recessive Homozygous dominant

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191 mark

A couple are trying to decide whether their children may be at risk of inheriting Huntington's disease. One parent is heterozygous for Huntingtons and the other is a healthy individual. 

Calculate the % chance that their offspring are likely to suffer from the disease.

  • 50%

  • 25%

  • 100%

  • 75%

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201 mark

The pedigree diagram below shows the inheritance of haemophilia across three generations.

biology-q9-3-3-ib-hl

Identify the genotype of person Y.

  • XhXh

  • XHXH

  • XHXh

  • XHY

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