Probability of Inheritance Calculator

A Punnett square is a genetic diagram that predicts the probability of offspring inheriting specific traits from their parents. It shows all possible genetic combinations by crossing the gametes from each parent, helping visualize genotype and phenotype ratios.

Capital letters represent dominant alleles, while lowercase letters represent recessive alleles. 'Aa' means heterozygous for one trait, 'AA' is homozygous dominant, 'aa' is homozygous recessive, and 'AaBb' represents genotypes for two different traits.

Genotype refers to the genetic makeup (the actual alleles present), while phenotype is the observable physical characteristic. For example, 'Aa' is a genotype, while 'brown eyes' is the corresponding phenotype if A represents the brown eye allele.

Punnett squares provide theoretical probabilities based on Mendelian genetics. While very useful for simple traits, real inheritance can be more complex due to factors like incomplete dominance, codominance, and polygenic traits affecting the actual outcomes.

Yes, the calculator supports dihybrid crosses for two traits simultaneously. For example, you can analyze both eye color and hair texture inheritance patterns in a single calculation, though this creates more complex probability combinations.

A dominant trait only needs one copy of the allele to be expressed in the phenotype, while a recessive trait requires two copies (one from each parent) to be visible. Dominant alleles are typically represented by capital letters.

The percentages show the likelihood of each outcome occurring in offspring. For example, 75% dominant phenotype means that if the parents had many offspring, approximately 3 out of every 4 would show the dominant trait.