Lecture 4 - Population Genetics and Microevolution 1. A very large number of individuals in the population Random mating No natural selection 2. Albinism - an example. Mutation causes exponential changes in gene frequencies. However, the change is slow - many, many generations are required for significant change.
Gene flow is the result of migration between populations with different gene frequencies.
Genetic drift becomes very important in small populations. Natural selection involves a consideration of survival rates, fitness, and selection coefficients. Changes in gene frequencies with time are complex, first changing slowly, then more rapidly, then slowly again.