Overview
The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is a foundational concept in population genetics that describes how allele frequencies remain stable in a population under certain ideal conditions. It serves as a model to understand genetic variation and the forces that can disrupt this balance, such as natural selec...
Key Terms
Example: The gene for flower color may have a red allele and a white allele.
Example: A plant with two red alleles is homozygous for red color.
Example: The red flowers of a plant are its phenotype.
Example: If 70 out of 100 alleles are red, the frequency of the red allele is 0.7.
Example: A mutation may change a flower's color from red to blue.
Example: Pollen from one population of flowers can fertilize another, introducing new alleles.
Related Topics
Population Genetics
The study of genetic variation within populations and how it changes over time.
intermediateEvolutionary Biology
The study of the processes that have led to the diversity of life on Earth.
advancedGenetic Drift
A mechanism of evolution that involves random changes in allele frequencies, especially in small populations.
intermediateNatural Selection
The process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and reproduce.
intermediateKey Concepts
Allele FrequencyGenotype FrequencyEquilibrium ConditionsPopulation Genetics