Given below are two statements.
Statement I: Lactose, if provided in the growth medium of E. coli, will be transported into the cells through the action of permease.
Statement II: In the presence of lactose, the repressor is inactivated by its interaction.
In light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below.

Permease, encoded by the lac y gene, is a membrane protein that functions as a lactose permease. Its role is to transport lactose molecules into the bacterial cell, allowing for their metabolism. Lactose binds to the lac repressor protein, causing a conformational change that weakens its binding affinity for the operator region. As a result, the lac repressor is released from the operator, allowing RNA polymerase to initiate transcription of the lac genes.