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Genetic drift, also known as random genetic drift, allelic drift or the Wright effect, [1] is the change in the frequency of an existing gene variant in a population due to random chance. [ 2 ] Genetic drift may cause gene variants to disappear completely and thereby reduce genetic variation . [ 3 ]
The genetic drift caused by a population bottleneck can change the proportional random distribution of alleles and even lead to loss of alleles. The chances of inbreeding and genetic homogeneity can increase, possibly leading to inbreeding depression. Smaller population size can also cause deleterious mutations to accumulate. [3]
Founder effect: The original population (left) could give rise to different founder populations (right). In population genetics, the founder effect is the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population.
Both genetic drift and genetic draft are random evolutionary processes, i.e. they act stochastically and in a way that is not correlated with selection at the gene in question. Drift is the change in the frequency of an allele in a population due to random sampling in each generation. [9]
In humans, the main cause is genetic drift. [18] Serial founder effects and past small population size (increasing the likelihood of genetic drift) may have had an important influence in neutral differences between populations. [citation needed] The second main cause of genetic variation is due to the high degree of neutrality of most mutations ...
Early observations that indicated higher than expected heterozygosity and overall variation within the protein isoforms studied, drove arguments as to the role of selection in maintaining this variation versus the existence of variation through the effects of neutral mutations arising and their random distribution due to genetic drift.
Small populations are more likely to experience the loss of diversity over time by random chance, which is an example of genetic drift. When an allele (variant of a gene) drifts to fixation, the other allele at the same locus is lost, resulting in a loss in genetic diversity. [17]
Genetic drift is the process by which allele frequencies fluctuate within populations. Natural selection and genetic drift propel evolution forward, and through evolution, alleles can become fixed. [8] [9] Processes of natural selection such as sexual, convergent, divergent, or stabilizing selection pave the way for allele fixation. One way ...