Aliele frequency refers to the fraction of individuals with a particular version of a given gene.

Question

What effect does genetic drift have on the allele frequency of a population?

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It greatly reduces the total population, which increases the effects of natural selection on allele frequency.

It increases the number of alleles by combining traits from different parents, which decreases the allele frequency of existing traits.

It causes random changes in allele frequency, leading to an increase or decrease in certain traits.

It causes the allele frequency to resemble that of a small number of individuals that became separated from the rest of the population.

Answer 1

Genetic drift refers to random changes in allele frequencies within a population, particularly in small populations. Of the options provided, the most accurate description of the effect of genetic drift on allele frequency is:

It causes random changes in allele frequency, leading to an increase or decrease in certain traits.

This statement effectively captures the essence of genetic drift, which can lead to fluctuations in allele frequencies from one generation to the next due to random sampling effects. These changes can result in certain alleles becoming more or less common purely by chance, rather than through natural selection.