What is the difference between a dominant and recessive allele? Provide an example of a genetic trait controlled by each type of allele.
Sample solution
Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell.
In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.
God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.
Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.
To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.
References
Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.
Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.
Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.
Sample Answer
Sample Answer
Dominant and Recessive Alleles in Genetics
In genetics, alleles are variants of a gene that determine specific traits in an organism. The terms dominant and recessive refer to how these alleles interact and express themselves in an individual’s phenotype. Here’s a breakdown of the key differences between dominant and recessive alleles, along with examples of genetic traits controlled by each type of allele:
Dominant Allele:
– Definition: A dominant allele is one that is expressed over a recessive allele when both alleles are present in an individual’s genotype.
– Symbol: Dominant alleles are usually represented by uppercase letters (e.g., A).
– Expression: Dominant alleles mask the presence of recessive alleles in heterozygous individuals.
– Example Trait: Brown eye color is often controlled by a dominant allele. If an individual carries at least one dominant allele for brown eyes (B), their eye color will be brown, even if they also have a recessive allele for blue eyes (b).
Recessive Allele:
– Definition: A recessive allele is only expressed when two copies of the allele are present in an individual’s genotype.
– Symbol: Recessive alleles are typically represented by lowercase letters (e.g., a).
– Expression: Recessive alleles are only observable in homozygous individuals who carry two copies of the recessive allele.
– Example Trait: Blue eye color is often controlled by a recessive allele. If an individual inherits two copies of the recessive allele for blue eyes (bb), their eye color will be blue. Blue eyes will only be expressed if no dominant allele for brown eyes is present.
Inheritance Patterns:
– Dominant Allele Inheritance: Dominant alleles follow a pattern where they are expressed in the phenotype when at least one copy is present.
– Recessive Allele Inheritance: Recessive alleles require two copies to be expressed phenotypically, as they are masked by dominant alleles in heterozygous individuals.
Punnett Square:
– Punnett Square: A tool used to predict the possible genotypes and phenotypes resulting from a genetic cross between parents with known genotypes.
– Example Punnett Square: When crossing a heterozygous individual (Bb) with a homozygous recessive individual (bb) for eye color, the Punnett square shows a 50% chance of brown-eyed offspring and a 50% chance of blue-eyed offspring.
Conclusion:
Understanding the concepts of dominant and recessive alleles is fundamental to comprehending inheritance patterns and predicting the likelihood of specific traits being passed on to offspring. Through the interplay of dominant and recessive alleles, genetic diversity and variability in phenotypic traits are governed, shaping the inheritance of traits across generations in living organisms.
