GENETIC DRIFT

 Common in small population, no significance in large population.

 Some alleles become more common while others become less common overtime (or lost).
 When there is only one allele is left for a particular gene pool, that allele is said to be fixed.

TYPES OF GENETIC DRIFT

• BOTTLENECK EFFECT – Reduction in population size
• FOUNDER EFFECT – Subset of population founds new population
The bottleneck effect occurs when a natural disaster or similar
event randomly kills a large portion (i.e. random sample) of the
population, leaving survivors that have allele frequencies that
were very different from the previous population.
These are Northern elephant seals that experience Bottleneck event due to humans hunting in 1890’s.
The population size has been reduced to 20 individuals at the end of the 19th century.
Today, their population increases to 30,000 but their genes still carry the marks of this bottleneck in which they carry
much less genetic variation.
The founder effect occurs when a portion of the population (i.e.
"founders") separates from the old population to start a new
population with different allele frequencies.
ARTIFICIAL SELECTION
Also called selective breeding, artificial selection is perhaps best understood as a contrast to natural selection, where the
random forces of nature determine which individuals survive and reproduce
Selective breeding tries to establish certain traits that animals will pass to the next generation. These are traits that humans
find desirable in domesticated species such as disease resistance, strength, calmness, more lean meat, endurance, etc.

MUTATION
Any heritable change in the DNA of a cell or an alteration in a DNA sequence

 A mutation is a random change in the DNA sequence within a gene or chromosome of a living organism. They
can also be described as copying errors within the DNA.
 Mutations can be spontaneous (random), but they can also be triggered by other many internal and external
factors, such as toxins, chemical substances or radiation.
RECOMBINATION
One of the sources of those new combinations of genes is recombination during meiosis. It is responsible for producing
genetic combinations not found in earlier generations.
This crossing-over process results in an unlinking and recombination of parental genes.