Not to be confused with Genetic draft, Antigenic drift, Antigenic shift, or Genetic Drift (video game).
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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 (allele) in a population due to random chance.[2]
Genetic drift may cause gene variants to disappear completely and thereby reduce genetic variation.[3] It can also cause initially rare alleles to become much more frequent and even fixed.
When few copies of an allele exist, the effect of genetic drift is more notable, and when many copies exist, the effect is less notable (due to the law of large numbers). In the middle of the 20th century, vigorous debates occurred over the relative importance of natural selection versus neutral processes, including genetic drift. Ronald Fisher, who explained natural selection using Mendelian genetics,[4] held the view that genetic drift plays at most a minor role in evolution, and this remained the dominant view for several decades. In 1968, population geneticist Motoo Kimura rekindled the debate with his neutral theory of molecular evolution, which claims that most instances where a genetic change spreads across a population (although not necessarily changes in phenotypes) are caused by genetic drift acting on neutral mutations.[5][6] In the 1990s, constructive neutral evolution was proposed which seeks to explain how complex systems emerge through neutral transitions.[7][8]
^Gould SJ (2002). "Chapter 7, section "Synthesis as Hardening"". The Structure of Evolutionary Theory.
^Star B, Spencer HG (May 2013). "Effects of genetic drift and gene flow on the selective maintenance of genetic variation". Genetics. 194 (1): 235–44. doi:10.1534/genetics.113.149781. PMC 3632471. PMID 23457235.
^Miller 2000, p. 54
^Kimura M (February 1968). "Evolutionary rate at the molecular level". Nature. 217 (5129). Nature Publishing Group: 624–6. Bibcode:1968Natur.217..624K. doi:10.1038/217624a0. PMID 5637732. S2CID 4161261.
^Futuyma 1998, p. 320
^Stoltzfus A (1999). "On the Possibility of Constructive Neutral Evolution". Journal of Molecular Evolution. 49 (2): 169–181. Bibcode:1999JMolE..49..169S. doi:10.1007/PL00006540. ISSN 0022-2844. PMID 10441669. S2CID 1743092. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
^Muñoz-Gómez SA, Bilolikar G, Wideman JG, Geiler-Samerotte K (April 2021). "Constructive Neutral Evolution 20 Years Later". Journal of Molecular Evolution. 89 (3): 172–182. Bibcode:2021JMolE..89..172M. doi:10.1007/s00239-021-09996-y. PMC 7982386. PMID 33604782.
Geneticdrift, also known as random geneticdrift, allelic drift or the Wright effect, is the change in the frequency of an existing gene variant (allele)...
occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and geneticdrift act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more...
breaks linkage disequilibrium, and the random phenomena of mutation and geneticdrift. This makes it appropriate for comparison to population genomics data...
mechanisms, such as geneticdrift, contribute to it, as well. Genetic variation can be identified at many levels. Identifying genetic variation is possible...
with amount of geneticdrift, and is the underlying cause of effects like population bottlenecks and the founder effect. Geneticdrift is the major source...
of geneticdrift. 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...
gamete-pools are sampled from a large "potential" gamete-pool is known as geneticdrift, and is considered subsequently. While panmixia may not be widely extant...
processes: mutation, selection (natural and artificial), gene flow and geneticdrift. This change happens over a relatively short (in evolutionary terms)...
small, so it shows increased sensitivity to geneticdrift, an increase in inbreeding, and relatively low genetic variation. In genetics, a founder mutation...
Genes evolve due to natural selection or survival of the fittest and geneticdrift of the alleles. The term gene was introduced by Danish botanist, plant...
population and its genetic variability are, the more likely the recessive/hidden deleterious mutations will show up causing geneticdrift. DNA damages are...
at the molecular level. While genotypes can slowly change by random geneticdrift, natural selection remains the primary explanation for adaptive evolution...
neither harm nor benefit, but can also be beneficial sometimes. Geneticdrift: Geneticdrift is a variational process, it happens as a result of the sampling...
background selection. Both genetic hitchhiking and background selection are stochastic (random) evolutionary forces, like geneticdrift. The term hitchhiking...
allele frequencies also produces genetic differentiation between populations. This process is known as geneticdrift. By examining the differences between...
Antigenic drift is a kind of genetic variation in viruses, arising from the accumulation of mutations in the virus genes that code for virus-surface proteins...
survival. The interrelationship of geneticdrift, gene flow, and natural selection determines the level and dispersion of genetic differences between populations...
and an increased chance of extinction, although as explained by geneticdrift new genetic variants, that may cause an increase in the fitness of organisms...
susceptible to geneticdrift. Geneticdrift is random changes to the genetic makeup of populations and leads to reductions in genetic diversity. The smaller...
evolutionary forces: high mutation rate, inefficient selection, and geneticdrift. With a 30% difference between humans and chimpanzees, the Y chromosome...
damage or replication errors in organisms' DNA. As the genetic variation of a population drifts randomly over generations, natural selection gradually...
greatest genetic fitness, the frequency of the fitter genes within the gene pool is increased, while the pool itself is reduced. The geneticdrift caused...
of inbreeding between members of populations as a result of random geneticdrift, and along with Fisher he pioneered methods for computing the distribution...
geneticdrift – changes in gene frequencies resulting from the creation of small breeding populations.[citation needed] A striking example of genetic...
changes. Genetic divergence will always accompany reproductive isolation, either due to novel adaptations via selection and/or due to geneticdrift, and is...
combination of natural selection, geneticdrift, and gene conversion. Mutations are permanent, transmissible changes to the genetic material (DNA or RNA) of a...
typically not as genetically diverse or extensive. These collections are susceptible to hybridization, artificial selection, geneticdrift, and disease transmission...
processes such as geneticdrift, in similarly to other European populations such as the Basques, Sámi and Icelanders. The high genetic variability implies...
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