Familial Hypercholesterolemia Illustrates Incomplete Dominance in Humans Because

Question

Familial hypercholesterolemia illustrates incomplete dominance in humans because
A) heterozygotes have an intermediate number of LDL receptors on their liver cells.
B) homozygous wild type individuals have an intermediate number of LDL receptors on their liver cells.
C) homozygous mutant individuals have an intermediate number of LDL receptors on their liver cells.
D) heterozygotes have an intermediate number of LDL receptors on their kidney cells.
E) heterozygotes have the minimal number of HDL receptors on their liver cells.

Accepted Answer

Familial hypercholesterolemia is a genetic disorder that affects the body's ability to remove low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol from the blood. The disorder is caused by mutations in the LDL receptor gene, which leads to decreased functional LDL receptors on liver cells. This results in elevated levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood, which can lead to heart disease. Incomplete dominance is observed in heterozygotes with familial hypercholesterolemia because they have an intermediate number of LDL receptors on their liver cells, which results in an intermediate phenotype (i.e., intermediate LDL cholesterol levels) compared to homozygous wild type individuals (normal phenotype) and homozygous mutant individuals (severe phenotype).