"100% hets",there is no such thing as say,a "50% het"...an animal is either heterozygous for a certain trait,or,it isn't...the phrases often used including a "percentage number" before the term "het" refer to Punnett's Square calculations,or,basic theoretical conclusions drawn from the known genetic status of the parental contributors in any given litter,and,are used to express a chance percentage probability...a simple example would be; any litter produced from an albino parent,bred to a non-gene carrier for albinism,is said to be a litter of "100% hets",(the "doubt" has been removed due to the homo. status of one parent.)Whereas,in a litter produced from two heterozygous animals,any babies that are not homozygous,(albinos,in this example.)are said to be "66% possible hets",(using the base number 16- 1/4 albino,1/4 "normal"(non-gene carriers.) 1/2 heterozygous...since the trait being used is recessive,we are unable to reasonably differentiate the "normals" from the real hets,so there is a theoretical "66% chance" of any of those 12 non albino babies to be true hets...in reality there is a reasonable assurance that some ARE hets,but,the 66% chance is not a guarantee two out of every three IS,in fact a 100% het. just a suggestion of probability based on how the trait has proven to be inherited...

[ Hide Replies ]

• what does het mean? - Rydair, Sat Apr 16 17:20:27 2005
• It is a... - Rainshadow, Sat Apr 16 17:57:23 2005
• so if... - Rydair, Sat Apr 16 20:32:47 2005
• All hets are... - Rainshadow, Sat Apr 16 21:27:24 2005
• RE: what does het mean? - metachrosis, Sun Apr 17 07:37:21 2005
• Sounds more like... - Rainshadow, Sun Apr 17 14:18:26 2005