What does a dominant form do to a recessive form?

In genetics, if an individual has a pair of alleles, one dominant and one recessive, the dominant allele will mask the effect of the recessive allele. This means that the trait associated with the dominant allele will be expressed, while the trait associated with the recessive allele will not be visible. However, the recessive allele is still present and can be passed on to offspring.

Here are the steps to understand this:

1. Each individual has two versions of each gene, known as alleles. These alleles can be either dominant or recessive.

2. Dominant alleles show their effect even if the individual only has one copy of the allele (i.e., they are heterozygous for the trait).

3. Recessive alleles only show their effect if the individual has two copies of the allele (i.e., they are homozygous for the trait).

4. If an individual has one dominant allele and one recessive allele for a particular gene, the trait associated with the dominant allele will be expressed. This is because the dominant allele 'masks' the effect of the recessive allele.

5. However, the recessive allele is still present in the individual's genetic makeup and can be passed on to their offspring. If an offspring receives two copies of the recessive allele (one from each parent), they will express the trait associated with the recessive allele.