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Related Concept Videos

Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.Positive Frequency-Dependent SelectionIn positive...
Genetic Drift03:33

Genetic Drift

Natural selection—probably the most well-known evolutionary mechanism—increases the prevalence of traits that enhance survival and reproduction. However, evolution does not merely propagate favorable traits, nor does it always benefit populations.Life is not fair. A deer grazing contentedly in a field can have her meal cut tragically short by a bolt of lightning. If the doomed doe is one of only three in the population, 1/3 of the population’s gene pool is lost. Random events like this can...
Types of Selection01:46

Types of Selection

Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift01:09

Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift

In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).Mechanisms of Genetic VariationThe original sources of genetic variation are mutations,...
Test for Homogeneity01:23

Test for Homogeneity

The goodness–of–fit test can be used to decide whether a population fits a given distribution, but it will not suffice to decide whether two populations follow the same unknown distribution. A different test, called the test for homogeneity, can be used to conclude whether two populations have the same distribution. To calculate the test statistic for a test for homogeneity, follow the same procedure as with the test of independence. The hypotheses for the test for homogeneity can be stated as...
Genetics of Speciation02:16

Genetics of Speciation

Speciation is the evolutionary process resulting in the formation of new, distinct species—groups of reproductively isolated populations.The genetics of speciation involves the different traits or isolating mechanisms preventing gene exchange, leading to reproductive isolation. Reproductive isolation can be due to reproductive barriers that have effects either before or after the formation of a zygote. Pre-zygotic mechanisms prevent fertilization from occurring, and post-zygotic mechanisms...

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Frequency and Distribution of Crossovers in Caenorhabditis elegans Meiosis by SNP Genotyping using Real-time PCR
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Population differentiation as a test for selective sweeps.

Hua Chen1, Nick Patterson, David Reich

  • 1Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. hchen@genetics.med.harvard.edu

Genome Research
|January 21, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces a new method to detect genetic selection by analyzing population differences. It identifies potential targets of selection with improved accuracy and localization, even in diverse human populations.

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Last Updated: Jun 16, 2026

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Area of Science:

  • Population Genetics
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genomics

Background:

  • Selective sweeps significantly alter genetic differentiation and allele frequency spectra.
  • Detecting these sweeps is crucial for understanding evolutionary adaptation.
  • Existing methods face challenges like ascertainment bias.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a novel likelihood method for detecting selective sweeps.
  • To jointly model multilocus allele frequency differentiation between populations.
  • To improve the power and localization accuracy of sweep detection.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing Brownian motion to model neutral genetic drift.
  • Employing a deterministic model to approximate sweep effects on nearby SNPs.
  • Jointly modeling allele frequency differentiation across multiple loci between populations.

Main Results:

  • The method demonstrates higher power in detecting selective sweeps compared to existing approaches in simulations.
  • It offers accurate localization of selected allele positions.
  • The approach is robust to ascertainment bias, unlike spectrum-based methods.

Conclusions:

  • The new method effectively identifies candidate targets of selection.
  • It successfully applied to diverse human populations, revealing known and novel selected regions.
  • This technique enhances our ability to study the genetic basis of adaptation.