In this first exercise, we are going to look for evidence of evolutionary change in a population in the absence of natural selection by looking at the change in allele frequencies over time in a simulated population. We will start with a population of 50 individuals in which there are two alternate alleles (H and h) in equal proportions (each at a frequency of 0.5 or 50%). Individuals have the possible genotypes: HH, Hh or hh. These two alleles do not offer any selective advantage, so neither is selected for or against, meaning they are neutral. We will record the frequency of these alleles over 10 generations. Prior to advancing on to the next generation, six alleles (= three individuals) will be removed at random.
Before you begin, answer the following:
Question
What is your prediction as to what will happen to the frequencies (note that this is different than the number) of these two alleles over 10 generations? Keep in mind that there is no selective advantage of one allele over the other. Be sure to word your prediction as an âif-thenâ statement based on the experiment design. (1 pts).
In this first exercise, we are going to look for evidence of evolutionary change in a population in the absence of natural selection by looking at the change in allele frequencies over time in a simulated population. We will start with a population of 50 individuals in which there are two alternate alleles (H and h) in equal proportions (each at a frequency of 0.5 or 50%). Individuals have the possible genotypes: HH, Hh or hh. These two alleles do not offer any selective advantage, so neither is selected for or against, meaning they are neutral. We will record the frequency of these alleles over 10 generations. Prior to advancing on to the next generation, six alleles (= three individuals) will be removed at random.
Before you begin, answer the following:
Question
What is your prediction as to what will happen to the frequencies (note that this is different than the number) of these two alleles over 10 generations? Keep in mind that there is no selective advantage of one allele over the other. Be sure to word your prediction as an âif-thenâ statement based on the experiment design. (1 pts).
