Question

What is genetic drift?

Answer 1

Genetic drift:

1. Genetic drift is the random variation in the frequency of an existing gene variant in a population.
2. Gene variations may vanish altogether due to genetic drift, reducing genetic variation.

Importance of genetic drift:

1. Through the help of genetic drift, a smaller amount of alleles can be brought into larger populations.
2. Genetic drift can also cause a new population to be genetically different from its parent population, leading to the theory that genetic drift is involved in the evolution of new species.