Carrier frequency describes the prevalence in a given population of germline mutations in a specific gene. A mutation carrier is sometimes called a heterozygote because two different alleles are present at a given locus--one with a germline mutation and one normal allele. Here, 2 out of 10 individuals carry a mutated allele at a particular gene locus, so the carrier frequency is 20 percent.
![Carrier Frequency](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081006124142im_/http://www.cancer.gov/images/Documents/a3a0ee76-1bc5-4490-aeaa-2248702c668f/cancer36.jpg)
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