Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Lab 10 - "Classic" Population Genetics II
Evolution in action

Today on lab 10, we performed a series of computer simulations to understand the effect of natural selection and genetic drift on the evolution of populations.

We used Jon C. Herron's AlleleA1 and EvoDots. AlleleA1 allowed us to simulate changes in allele frequency under specific conditions, since we were able to control variables such as population size, initial allele frequency, and fitness (we didn't change other variables that could be controlled as well).  EvoDots allowed us to simulate the effects of predation on a population of dots which vary in certain traits (speed, size, and color). In this case the user is the predator.

The effects of natural selection and genetic drift under various conditions were considered.

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