Lab 09: Population Genetics Study

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Lab 09: Population Genetics Study Intro: A population is a group of individuals from a single species that can interbreed with one another. As time passes, we understand that these populations can change in number, geographic location, and genetic composition from one generation to the next. Population genetics is the study of the genetic composition within a population and how it is influenced by natural selection, mutation, gene flow, and genetic drift. The frequency and distribution of dominant and recessive alleles are monitored by population geneticists to understand the genetics of a population. The frequency of a specific allele is calculated as: Allele frequency = # of copies of a specific allele in a population Total # of all alleles in population This formula states that the dominant allele frequency, p, and the recessive allele frequency, q, would together equal to one. In the early 20th century, Hardy and Weinberg continued Mendel’s and Darwin’s work on population genetics. They realized that evolution only occurs when the frequency of alleles in that population changes over time which meant that if the alleles in the population stayed the same, there would be no evolutionary change. From there, the two scientist created a mathematical equation to determine the frequencies of alleles within a population known as the Hardy-Weinberg Principle: p^2 + 2 pq + q^2 = 1.0 This formula is based on using a Punnett square of mating two individual plants. But since the ratio of dominant to recessive alleles are not the same, we can use the allele frequencies for both alleles for a more accurate prediction. The first part of this lab consists of a taste test to determine the allele and genotype frequencies within a class population. The three samples will be based on the bitter taste receptor gene. If there is a strong bitter taste present, the result will
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