Punnett Squares: Introduction

Punnett Squares

2. Introduction

Introduction

Assume you are a plant breeder trying to develop a new variety of plant that is more useful to humans. You plan to cross-pollinate an insect-resistant plant with a plant that grows rapidly. Your goal is to produce a variety of plant that is both insect resistant and fast growing. What percent of the offspring would you expect to have both characteristics? Mendel’s laws can be used to find out. However, to understand how Mendel’s laws can be used in this way, you first need to know about probability.

CK-12 Foundation, Biology. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/