Hw Lab Essay, Research Paper

I. Title

Population Genetics and Evolution:

Hardy Weinberg Equation

II. Hypothesis

This lab is separated into four different cases. Within each of these cases, there are

aspects that change the allele frequency within a population (this will be more deeply explained

in the analysis).

The first case represents the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. In this case, I hypothesize

that the allele frequencies should end up with no alterations from the original frequencies. My

hypothesis is based on the Hardy-Weinberg theorem.

The second case is similar to the first case, except natural selection is present. Because

of this natural selection, all of the homozygous recessive animals die, and therefore will lower the

frequency of the recessive allele, I hypothesize.

Case three is like case two, except, now not only can the homozygous recessive not

survive, but the homozygous dominant have only a statistical chance of 50% of surviving.

Therefore, I hypothesize that the frequency of the dominant allele will rise, but not as greatly as

in case two.

Case four is supposed to represent genetic drift. In order to represent genetic drift, one

must determine the frequencies of a population, and then isolate a specific group, and then

recording the frequencies again generations later. I hypothesize that in this lab the different

groups will not equally represent the gene pool and therefore the frequencies may be drastically

different from the original populations frequency. The actual frequency change, however, is

unpredictable because it is random.