If you have the frequency of the dominant allele for a gene, how do you get the frequency of the recessive allele?

a- take the square of the frequency of the recessive allele
b- multiply the frequency by the size of the population
c- subtract the frequency of the dominant allele from 1
d- take the square of the frequency of the dominant allele

The frequency of the allele refers to how common an allele is in a population. The frequency is determined by counting how many times the allele appears in the population, then dividing it by the total number of copies of the gene.

This division results in a fraction that indicates the percentage, that is, the allelic frequency. The frequency of the dominant and recessive alleles added must be equal to 100% (or 1 if calculated in fractions).

Therefore, to obtain the frequency of the recessive allele described in the question, just subtract the frequency of the dominant allele from 1.

Example: In a given population, the frequency of the dominant allele that determines whether people have brown eyes is 1/4 (or 25%), what would be the frequency of the recessive allele that determines whether people have blue eyes?

Answer: 1 (or 100%) - 1/4 (or 25%) = 75%

The frequency of the recessive allele is 3/4 (or 75%).