Genetic Drift and Allele Frequency
This simulation illustrates how allele frequencies can change in a population over time due to genetic drift.
Adjust the population size, number of generations, and initial allele frequency, and observe how allele A's frequency changes in the population.
Question 1:
Set the number of generations to 1000 and make several plots with decreasing population size. What do you notice happens to the frequency of alleles in small populations over many generations?
Question 2:
Set the number of generations to 50 and make 5 plots each with the population sizes at 2000, 200, 20. What do you notice about the plots?
Question 3:
Try multiple plots with a population size of at least 1,000, at least 200 generations, and two very different starting allele frequencies, such as 0.8 and 0.2. What do you notice about the allele frequency?