Biologists who study inheritance patterns, genetic counselors, and you (apparently) need to bridge the gap between DNA and some of life’s questions, like “What crop will produce the greatest yield?” or “Which dog has the shiniest coat?” I don’t know: there are millions of questions different people ask from one day to the next that have to do with inheritance.
For example, if you run a pet store, where bunnies with black fur sell better than bunnies with brown fur, you might want to know the chances of getting bunnies with black fur if you cross a black female with a brown male. We’ll use this example to explain how pet store owners and others can use Punnett squares to answer these questions.
First, you should understand that Punnett squares are a way to represent genes and a way to represent theoretical probability. They are not real, but they are just a tool we made up so that we could understand DNA, inheritance, and mathematical probability a little better, as it relates to the study of life on Earth.
The comments to this post will explain, step by step, how to make or draw Punnett squares, how they are used, and some different varieties of Punnett squares.