The Joy of Genetics: Monohybrid and Dihybrid Crosses Explained

What are monohybrid and dihybrid crosses?

How do they differ from each other?

Monohybrid and Dihybrid Crosses Explained

Monohybrid crosses only look at one genotype, while dihybrid crosses involve two genotypes.

Genetics can be so much fun when you dive into the world of monohybrid and dihybrid crosses! Monohybrid crosses focus on one specific trait, whereas dihybrid crosses consider two different traits.

Monohybrid Cross

In a monohybrid cross, a classic example would be the cross between a homozygous dominant individual (AA) with a homozygous recessive individual (aa). Let's say the dominant allele (A) determines the color red, and the recessive allele (a) determines the color white. The offspring would all be heterozygous (Aa) and exhibit the red color phenotype.

Dihybrid Cross

On the other hand, dihybrid crosses take things up a notch by examining two different traits. For example, let's consider a cross between individuals with genotypes SSYY and SsYy. Here, the letter S represents size (with large being dominant and small being recessive), and the letter Y represents color (with yellow being dominant and green being recessive). The resulting offspring will have a mix of these traits in various combinations.