A young woman develops breast cancer that does not spread to any other tissues; the original mutation responsible for the cancer arose in a single breast cell. If she and her husband (who does not have cancer) have children after the breast cancer diagnosis, which of the following statements is most likely to be true?

a. All the woman’s children will inherit the mutation.
b. Half of the woman’s children will inherit the mutation if the mutation is dominant.
c. None of the woman’s children will inherit the mutation.
d. Some of the woman’s children may inherit the mutation depending on which chromosomes they inherit.
e. There is not enough information to know for sure.

The only mutation that can be inherited by offspring are those that occur in the sex (germ) cells like spermatozoa or ovum before, during meiosis or zygote formation, not those originating from body (somatic) cell that do not undergo meiosis at all.

This explains the difference between germ-line mutation and somatic mutations.

Therefore, based on the information given, the original mutation causing the woman's cancer arose in a single breast cell, which is not a sex cell, but rather a purely somatic cell that undergoes mitosis only.

Thus none of the woman's children will inherit the mutation.

Histrionicus Histrionicus · Answer 2 · 2021-12-16T09:53:51+01:00

The following statements are most likely to be true - c. None of the woman’s children will inherit the mutation.

Breast cancer

most often begins with cells in the milk-producing ducts or the glandular tissue called lobules in the breast.

In this case, cancer arose in a single breast cell which is a somatic cell.
Cancer is not spread to other tissues which means it is still in somatic cells that are not passed from one generation to another.
To inherit any trait or mutation it needs to be present in the sex cell or gamete.

Thus, The following statements are most likely to be true - c. None of the woman’s children will inherit the mutation.

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