Tomorrow I have a biology test about, among other things, the phenotype and the genotype. I don’t quite understand what both mean and what the differences are between the two.
Asker: Manon, 14 years old
Answer
The genotype is the genes you have. You always have two alleles of a certain gene. They can be the same or different. The phenotype reflects what is being expressed or in other words what is being expressed, the characteristic that you can see. The genes are transcribed and translated into proteins and this is what you can see being expressed.
For example:
- one allele gene x, other allele gene x’: genotype is xx’, phenotype can be x or x’
- both alleles gene x, phenotype will be x
Answered by
Mrs. Celine Christiaens
Molecular Biology/Biology/Chemistry
West Flanders University of Applied Sciences
Marksesteenweg 58 B-8500 Kortrijk
http://www.howest.be
Marksesteenweg 58 B-8500 Kortrijk
http://www.howest.be
.