Genetic drift

The four forces of evolution are mutation, gene flow, genetic drift, and natural selection (Wwnorton). What I understand about mutation is that it is a random change that sometimes is good or bad. Whenever I hear the word mutation I automatically think of the X-Men because they were labeled as mutants and had random mutations happen to them. What I know about gene flow right now is that its when properties from one party flows to the other party that did not have that property. In my mind…

The four forces of evolution include mutation, gene flow, genetic drift, and natural selection. Mutation occurs when the base pairs in DNA change which leads to different codons being read during translation. Most mutations create codons for the same amino acid that the normal codon would have made but sometimes a different amino acid is made and that leads to changes in the organism's phenotype. Gene flow happens when two different populations come together and reproduce with each other. The…

Genetic Drift is chance rise and fall in the regularity of the arrival of a gene in a tiny remote population, apparently owing to coincidental rather than normal selection. Usually, genetic drift takes place in very small inhabitants, where rarely occurring alleles face a better opportunity of being absent. Once it starts, genetic drift will carry on up until the allele involved is missing by the inhabitants or up until it is the lone allele existing in a population at a specific locus. Genetic…

Microevolution “Microevolution is evolution on a small scale, within a [shared gene pool] population” (Berkeley 2006). The shared gene pool experiences genetic changes that can create differences within a species. These genetic differences are inherited from one or both parents. Genes are either lost or combined differently and can result in things such as different hair color, longer legs or bigger ears. There are four processes that contribute to microevolution: 1. Mutation – a physical…

Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium and Natural Selection Lab Introduction In this lab we were able to experiment to better understand the concepts of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium and Natural Selection. The theory of Evolution states that populations that are evolving will have allele and genotype frequencies that change from generation to generation. To evaluate whether a population is evolving, the Hardy-Weinberg equation is used. A population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium if there is no change in the…

The law proves that natural selection is necessary for evolution to occur ("SparkNotes: population genetics," 2014). The conditions set up by the…

frequencies of the population. For stabilizing selection the fitness of the red (RR) and white (rr) genotypes were lowed to .5 while the fitness of pink (Rr) was kept at 1. For positive assortment the assortment level was raised from zero to .5. For genetic drift the population was lowered from 500 to 100. These parameters were combined for each scenario where more than one evolutionary force was used. The chi-square analysis was used to determine if the differences between the observed and…

Genomic Diversity Genetic diversity provides variation in which that selection can act upon and it determines the response of population towards environmental change. Therefore, knowledge in genetic diversity is crucial for developing breeding strategies and also for the management of endangered species. Understanding the determinant genetic diversity is also essential for resolving the long-standing riddle in population genetics, the disproportionately narrow range of the genetic diversity…

Introduction Fredrick Douglass once said “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” (Douglas, n.d.). This seems to fit the life of Alfred Wegener and his struggle to prove his theory of Pangaea and continental drift. A brief overview of his life, his research, and difficulties he faced will be presented. In addition, discussing why Mr. Wegener’s theory was so widely criticized, other scientists’ objections, and his use of certain fossil organisms for his theory. Mr. Wegener’s Life…

RESULTS: An experiment was conducted to document the patterns of evolution in the fictional species, Cannus stannous. Fitness of the C. stannous population is determined solely by its ability to retain heat. Three genes determined heat retention; can size, skin type, and water level. Each gene had three alleles, producing 27 possible phenotypic combinations (Table 1). The data recorded pertains to two populations of C. stannous over 9 generations; a small population of 4 cans (Figure 1) and the…