Explain why sex-linked traits appear more frequently in males than in females. Sex-Linked Traits – Why They Appear More Commonly in Males than Females

Sex-Linked Traits – Why They Appear More Commonly in Males than Females

Sex-linked traits are those that are determined by genes located on the sex chromosomes. These traits are linked to the gender of the individual and tend to occur more commonly in males than in females. This is due to the fact that males have an X and a Y chromosome, whereas females have two X chromosomes. As a result, a trait linked to the Y chromosome is only expressed in males and not in females. Additionally, a gene on the X chromosome may be expressed in females if it is dominant, but in males, the same gene would be expressed regardless of whether it is dominant or recessive. For example, red-green color blindness is a sex-linked trait that is much more common in males than in females. This is because the gene for red-green color blindness is located on the X chromosome. Therefore, if the gene is recessive, it will only be expressed in males who have only one X chromosome. In contrast, a female would need to have two copies of the recessive gene in order to express the trait (Liang, 2018). Cont…