Simulating Monohybrid Punnett Squares: Focusing on the Relationships Between Probability, Chance, and Data

Can Punnett square simulations help demonstrate how probability and chance affect the outcome of a genetic cross? Genetic crosses come in a variety of different styles. One such cross that involves two parents (P1’s) being homozygous or heterozygous for a single trait is called a monohybrid cross. The offspring (F1’s) or zygotes of such a cross could also exhibit various genotypes and phenotypes depending on what the parents contribute. The monohybrid Punnett square is a graphical means to provide a visual understanding of all the possible outcomes between two parent contributions of a single trait (i.e. P1’s = Aa x AA). Nature does not always follow a strict pattern of probability due to environmental changes or genetic imperfections. So, gathering a significantly large amount of data while avoiding anything that may influence that data is important in research.