The recessive nature of Rh- blood is NOT the reason for low frequencies

Share Button

The question returns whether a recessive trait leads to higher, lower or similar frequencies.

The question remains why Rh negative blood has remained at a low percentage within the European population over thousands of years.


As previously discussed on this blog, there are many factors playing a role in keeping percentages down.
One, the main one possibly, is of course the fact that pregnancy incompatibility has over the centuries kept Rh negative women from being able to pass on their D negative status as freely as mathematical conclusions would permit them to.

The example in the image is excellent using self-pollination to show a 3:1 ratio in the F2 generation.


But how about upcoming generations?
In F2 you have 4 results, so in F3, it will be 16.
Out of those 16, there will be 6 green, so that will come to 3/8 or 0.375
F4 will have 64 results with 7 green coming to 0.4375 and F5 with 256 results will have 120 green coming to 0.46875

The percentage of greens will approach 50% without ever reaching it.

The claim that Rh- frequencies are low due to the D negative gene being recessive holds zero water.

After all, blood type O is recessive to the A and B allele as well, yet 45% of the world population has blood type O.

Share Button

Add a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.