What is a Punnett square?
Genetic studies help in crossing the characters of parents to find the probable combinations of genes in offspring. As the number of characters increases, so does the complexity.
Punnett square
Geneticists use a type of checkerboard to solve some problems called a Punnett square. It was discovered by the British geneticist Reginald Punnett and was one of the most efficient and easy methods developed for theoretical crossing in genetics.
How does Punnett square work?
- It is a big box made up of checkboxes. On the left side, the mother’s genes ‘T’ and ‘t’ are written. On the top, the father’s genes ‘T’ and ‘t’ are
- One gene is obtained by the offspring from each
- So, ‘T’ and ‘T’ from each parent is written in the first box, ‘T’ from mother and ‘t’ from father is written in the second The third box is filled with ‘T’ from father and another ‘t’ from mother while the last box gets ‘t’ and ‘t’ from each parent.
- This is how genes are passed onto the next generation and a simple direct cross is carried out.
- The only difference is that the method turns out to be more beneficial when there are more
- When two or more characters are crossed together, the Punnett square plays a significant role.
