Prepare for the Clinical Genetics Test. Utilize flashcards and multiple-choice questions, each with hints and explanations. Achieve success on your exam!

Multiple Choice

If 60 out of 80 individuals who carry a pathogenic variant show the phenotype, penetrance is what percent?

Penetrance is the proportion of individuals who carry a pathogenic variant and actually express the associated phenotype. Here, three-quarters of the carriers show the phenotype, so penetrance is 75%. This reflects incomplete penetrance, since not every carrier expresses the trait. Remember, penetrance is about whether the phenotype appears at all; expressivity, by contrast, concerns how strongly or in what form it presents among those who do express it.

Penetrance is the proportion of individuals who carry a pathogenic variant and actually express the associated phenotype. Here, three-quarters of the carriers show the phenotype, so penetrance is 75%. This reflects incomplete penetrance, since not every carrier expresses the trait. Remember, penetrance is about whether the phenotype appears at all; expressivity, by contrast, concerns how strongly or in what form it presents among those who do express it.