What method involves breeding selected individuals to understand trait inheritance?

• A. Genetic mapping
• B. Genetic cross
• C. Population study
• D. Crossbreeding

Answer: (B)

The method involving breeding selected individuals to understand trait inheritance is known as a genetic cross. This approach allows researchers to pair organisms with specific traits to observe how those traits are passed on to their offspring. By analyzing the phenotypes and genotypes of the offspring resulting from these controlled breeding experiments, scientists can derive patterns of inheritance and reveal the underlying genetic mechanisms governing the traits.

Genetic crosses are foundational in genetics because they provide a systematic way to explore the principles outlined by Gregor Mendel, such as dominance, recessiveness, segregation, and independent assortment. Through various types of crosses, such as monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, researchers can establish the relationships between different alleles and predict the probabilities of specific traits appearing in future generations.

Other methods mentioned, like genetic mapping, primarily involve determining the location of genes on chromosomes without necessarily focusing on the actual breeding of individuals. Population studies investigate traits across larger groups of organisms rather than controlled pairings, while crossbreeding typically refers to the process of breeding different varieties but does not necessarily focus on understanding inheritance patterns the way a genetic cross specifically does.