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Related Concept Videos

What is Natural Selection?01:32

What is Natural Selection?

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Natural selection is an evolutionary process in which individuals with survival-promoting traits reproduce at higher rates. These favorable traits become more common within a population or species. Naturally selected traits initially arise via random genetic mutations. In order for selection to occur, there must be variation within a population, the trait controlling the variation must be heritable, and there must be an evolutionary advantage for variation in the trait.
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Types of Selection01:46

Types of Selection

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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...
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Limits to Natural Selection01:38

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Organisms that are well-adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, natural selection does not lead to perfectly adapted organisms. Several factors constrain natural selection.
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Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

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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.
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Natural Selection and Mating Preferences01:06

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The principle of natural selection posits that organisms better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. This principle is closely intertwined with mating preferences, a key aspect of sexual selection, which evolutionary psychologists believe is driven by instincts to propagate one's genes. Such instincts significantly influence mating behaviors and preferences between genders.
Females, due to their biological roles in conception, pregnancy, and nursing,...
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Natural Selection and Adaptation01:15

Natural Selection and Adaptation

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Natural selection, a fundamental concept in evolutionary biology, is the mechanism by which evolution is driven, favoring organisms that are best adapted to their environments. This process enhances their chances of survival and reproduction. Adaptation, a key outcome of this process, involves genetic modifications that optimize an organism's functionality under specific environmental challenges, such as extreme cold or thinner air at high altitudes.
Beyond physical adaptations,...
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Predicting the Effectiveness of Population Replacement Strategy Using Mathematical Modeling
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When Is Selection Effective?

Simon Gravel1

  • 1Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre, Montreal, Québec, Canada, H3A 1A4 simon.gravel@mcgill.ca.

Genetics
|March 25, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Genetic load, the burden of deleterious alleles, is similar across human populations despite differing population sizes. Recent demography has minor effects on selection efficacy, with small genome-wide differences observed.

Keywords:
genetic driftgenetic loadhuman geneticspurgingselection

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Area of Science:

  • Population genetics
  • Human evolution
  • Genomics

Background:

  • Deleterious alleles can increase in frequency in small populations due to genetic drift, potentially reducing average fitness.
  • Recent studies debate whether differing human demographic histories have led to variations in deleterious variants and genetic load.
  • Clarifying definitions and assumptions is crucial for comparing genetic load across populations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To clarify terms and definitions in the debate on genetic load differences across human populations.
  • To establish a robust framework for comparing genetic load using "total mutational damage" concepts.
  • To quantitatively explain the observed similarity in genetic load across diverse human populations.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized simulations and analytical calculations.
  • Analyzed data from the 1000 Genomes Project.
  • Applied variants of Morton, Crow, and Muller's "total mutational damage" framework.

Main Results:

  • Provided an intuitive and quantitative explanation for the similarity in genetic load across populations.
  • Demonstrated that while recent demography modulates selection, its net effect on accumulated differences is small.
  • Showed that direct observation of selection efficacy for specific allele classes is feasible with current data.

Conclusions:

  • The overall genetic load is remarkably similar across human populations.
  • Recent demographic history has had a limited impact on genome-wide genetic load differences.
  • Identifying average genome-wide selection efficacy differences requires extensive modeling and offers limited biological insight.