Gene Flow, Natural Selection, Mutation, And Genetic Drift

Evolution is a change in the characteristic of living organism through time. Modern synthesis, one of the greatest intellectual achievements of biology, could explain how mutations and natural selection could produced large-scale evolutionary change. There are 4 mechanisms for evolution to occur; mutation, gene flow, genetic drift and natural selection.
Although, there are a number of misconceptions about evolution; it does not explain the origins of life, it is not progressive, natural selection is not about the survival of the fittest individuals in a population, humans are not currently evolving, it does not make organism better designed nor does it gives organism what they need to survive. This essay will describe further, 3 common misconceptions

- There are many mutations that happen naturally within DNA sequences over time. Most are minor, and have little effect upon an organism. However, some mutations actually provide species with useful adaptations that could help them evolve into more efficient species. Some mutations on a catalytic site completely alter the functioning state of a protein.

Natural sources of variation include: mutations, gene flow, and genetic shuffling. Mutations are random changes in DNA that result in beneficial, harmful, or no changes in an organism. Gene flow can also be referred to as migration. It is the exchange of genes of individuals from one population to another. Genetic shuffling occurs in meiosis when alleles switch to create new combinations of genes. The steps of natural selection are overproduction, variation, competition, and selection. Overproduction is important because it keeps the species from becoming extinct and allows for more variation in offspring. Variation is what can either help the organism have a higher chance of surviving or could lower the chance of surviving.

The four forces of evolution are Mutation, Natural Selection, Genetic Drift, and Genetic Flow. Each one of these subjects serves a high importance when speaking about evolution and how it has occurred over millions of years. Mutation is probably the most important as without the mutations, nothing else like natural selection can really occur. There would also be no variance in species and animals would look all the same or similar. With mutations, physical effects can be advantageous, fairly bad, or neutral with not much change and not good or bad. In natural selection, the idea of fitness is very important. As said in the lecture, this type of fitness doesn’t mean the physical attributes one has in order to beat out everyone because of their physicality, but instead it’s about the idea of one being able to produce fertile offspring in comparison to others. This selection

Mutations occur in the DNA sequence of a gene in an organism. When it comes to the importance of mutations, evolution is the

1. Evolutionary theory describes how populations change over time due to changes in the gene pool. There are several mechanisms that can change a gene pool and allow evolution to occur. Natural selection, mutation, gene flow and genetic drift are some of the driving forces behind evolutionary change. Natural selection and genetic drift are the mechanisms that decrease genetic variation, whereas gene flow and mutation are the driving mechanism to increase genetic variation. Natural selection is basically the understanding that the environment can not support unlimited population growth, and not all organisms are able to reproduce to their full potential due to trait variation. For example, a black fly may

1. Mutation is a driving force for the evolution of a species. Describe the 3 main mutations that can occur in a gene, and the impact those mutations will have on protein structure/function. (5 pts)

Evolutionary biology has always interested me, specifically the mechanisms of natural selection and how species adapt to their environment. It started with my love for animals and nature when I was little. I spent my summers working with horses at a local corral, where I would ride around the surrounding wilderness areas. My favorite part about riding in the mountains was watching the change in plant and animal species as the elevation changed. It never ceased to amaze me how the alpine tree line was always so sudden. Humongous pine trees would give way to the short, shrubby plants of the alpine tundra so uniformly and noticeably. I have always wondered about the environmental conditions that cause species to distribute themselves in

A. Gene flow is the movement of genes is a population, causing a change is the most common characteristics. Genetic drift is very similar, it describes the evolution of a population to favor advantagous phenotypes. Natural selection is the survival of the fittest, that those best equipped to survive will reproduce and pass on their genes. Mutation is the random change of genetic material in an organisms DNA.

Evolution is the process of biological change by which descendants come to differ from their ancestors. Natural Selection is when an individual with the best trait survive and breed in more population. Larger populations of organisms with the desired traits will then occur and organisms will evolve. The four principles of Natural Selection are variation, over production, adaptation, and descent with modification. Charles Darwin, an English naturalist and geologist saw two major trends within organisms which were variation and adaptation. Variations are differences in individuals’ physical traits compared to other individuals. In the Galapagos Islands Darwin noticed that finches had different beak sizes and shapes. Darwin then concluded that finches with thicker beaks lived in areas where nuts were the main food source and finches with smaller beaks tended to live in areas where insects were the main food source. Adaptation are features that allow an organism to better survive in their environment. There has been many adaptations in animals but one of the best has been living in groups because animals can then “help each other find food, defend against predators and care for their young” (animalpanet, n.d.). Overproduction is when organisms produce more offspring than the environment can support. Darwin stated that all animals over produce since offspring can reach reproduction age and have offspring of their own. For example, “even a slow breeder

Evolution is the idea of a living organism adapting or mutating to gain beneficial physiological, psychological and structural features. The genetic makeup of all living things is constantly changing, due to DNA replication errors or outside factors, some of these changes impact drastically on the organism changing it for the better or worse. Typically when an organisms genetic code is changed for the better and it reproduces and outlives its unchanged counterparts this process is called evolution.

In lab 2 we are using computer simulations to investigate the four forces of evolution. The four forces of evolution include mutation, gene flow, genetic drift and natural selection. Mutation is a way for new alleles to be introduced into the population and is completely random. Gene flow is when a group of individuals migrate into a new population and bring with them new alleles like mutation this can also be random. Genetic drift is when alleles are taken out of a population because of some random occurrence unrelated to the alleles like a natural disaster etc.

The founders effect can lead to a descendant population that differs greatly from its parent population over a relatively short period of time, this is referred to as genetic drift. My example goes over the Equus, which as we know was the original horse, which was as big a pony, and soft as a teddy bear. Until harsh environments, mutations through matting allowed the equus to change not only its physical appearance, but how it reacts to the change in nature. My example would be how the Equus through time started to become bigger, stronger, faster, and more deadly. This was because the Equus was very vulnerable, giving it many years to learn it weakness, and through time drifted to become stronger and more

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If natural selection is to result in the evolution of traits associated with adaptation within a given plant population certain conditions such as sexual reproduction, mutations, and gene flow, all of which facilitate genetic variation, must exist. While plants can reproduce asexually, those that reproduce sexually produce new alleles through genetic recombination. This allows for the emergence of new phenotypes, and subsequently new individuals, that are better suited for their environment. Likewise, mutations, which are changes in DNA, can add genetic variation to a population and create phenotypic changes. If these alterations result in individuals being better suited to their environment, natural selection will select for these traits,