Campbell Biology (11th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0-13409-341-0
ISBN 13: 978-0-13409-341-3

Chapter 23 - 23.3 - Concept Check - Page 495: 2

Answer

Genetic drift involves random chance alterations of allelic frequencies in small populations, usually greatly reducing or eliminating one or more alleles. In contrast, gene flow involves individuals moving into a population, whatever its size, usually increasing genetic variation (though lots and lots of one homozygous genotype flowing into a population could reduce variation).

Work Step by Step

Review the definitions in the text and use your imagination to see that genetic drift usually makes a population more homogeneous, while gene flow would usually bring more (and, perhaps, novel) alleles into the population.
Update this answer!

You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this answer.

Update this answer

After you claim an answer you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.