What does it mean if an animal is considered to be a wild type animal?

What does it mean if an animal is considered to be a wild type animal?

• A. A new gene has been inserted in the animal.
• B. A gene has been turned off in the animal.
• C. The animal does not contain the allele of interest.
• D. The animal has homozygous alleles for the gene of interest.

Answer: (C)

Wild type means the allele that is most common in nature—the non-mutant form used as a baseline. If an animal is wild type for a gene being studied, it carries the normal, non-mutant allele and does not have the specific allele of interest (the mutation or transgene) being examined. That’s why the correct choice says it does not contain the allele of interest. The other scenarios describe genetic changes that would not be considered wild type: inserting a new gene creates a transgenic animal; turning off a gene is a knockout; and being homozygous for the allele of interest implies two copies of that specific variant, which would not be the standard wild type. Wild type can be either homozygous or heterozygous for the non-mutant allele, depending on the gene and population.

Wild type means the allele that is most common in nature—the non-mutant form used as a baseline. If an animal is wild type for a gene being studied, it carries the normal, non-mutant allele and does not have the specific allele of interest (the mutation or transgene) being examined. That’s why the correct choice says it does not contain the allele of interest.

The other scenarios describe genetic changes that would not be considered wild type: inserting a new gene creates a transgenic animal; turning off a gene is a knockout; and being homozygous for the allele of interest implies two copies of that specific variant, which would not be the standard wild type. Wild type can be either homozygous or heterozygous for the non-mutant allele, depending on the gene and population.