Question:medium

Which pedigree pattern best characterises a trait showing INCOMPLETE PENETRANCE?

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An obligate carrier who shows no phenotype makes the disease appear to skip them.
Updated On: Jun 25, 2026
  • A generation appears skipped - an obligate carrier is unaffected so affected individuals occur in alternate generations
  • Only one gender is ever affected
  • None of the family members are affected
  • Every individual in all generations is affected
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Penetrance answers the question: of everyone who inherits the disease allele, how many actually show the disease? If the answer is less than $100\%$, the trait has incomplete (reduced) penetrance.

Practically, this produces a carrier who possesses the mutation yet looks completely healthy. In a family tree such a person sits between an affected ancestor and an affected descendant, so the condition seems to bypass a generation - affected individuals show up in alternate generations.

The other choices describe unrelated phenomena: a single affected sex points to sex-linked or sex-limited inheritance; a family with nobody affected simply does not carry the trait; and a pedigree where everyone in every generation is affected reflects fully penetrant dominant transmission. Note also that anticipation (progressively earlier/severe onset) is a separate idea and should not be confused here.

\[\boxed{\text{Incomplete penetrance} \rightarrow \text{trait skips a generation}}\]
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