What describes the genetic makeup of an individual?

What describes the genetic makeup of an individual?

• A. Genotype
• B. Phenotype
• C. Allele
• D. Homozygous

Answer: (A)

Genotype describes the genetic makeup of an individual—the specific set of alleles inherited from the parents across all the gene locations. It is the internal genetic blueprint that underlies potential traits, even if environmental factors influence how those traits actually appear. The observable traits you can see or measure, such as height or eye color, come from the phenotype, which arises from the genotype interacting with the environment. An allele is a variant form of a gene, and for any given gene you can have two alleles—either the same, which is called homozygous, or different, which is heterozygous. So, when asked what describes an individual’s genetic makeup, genotype is the correct term because it captures the complete set of inherited genetic information.

Genotype describes the genetic makeup of an individual—the specific set of alleles inherited from the parents across all the gene locations. It is the internal genetic blueprint that underlies potential traits, even if environmental factors influence how those traits actually appear. The observable traits you can see or measure, such as height or eye color, come from the phenotype, which arises from the genotype interacting with the environment. An allele is a variant form of a gene, and for any given gene you can have two alleles—either the same, which is called homozygous, or different, which is heterozygous. So, when asked what describes an individual’s genetic makeup, genotype is the correct term because it captures the complete set of inherited genetic information.