Idealised population
In
Hardy-Weinberg
In 1908, G. H. Hardy and Wilhelm Weinberg modeled an idealised population to demonstrate that in the absence of selection, migration, random genetic drift, allele frequencies stay constant over time, and that in the presence of random mating, genotype frequencies are related to allele frequencies according to a binomial square principle called the Hardy-Weinberg law.[2]
Usage in population dynamics
A good example of usage idealised population model, in tracking natural population conditions, could be found in a research of
Application to population history
Idealised population models could not only provide us with information about present populations conditions but are useful in revealing natural history and population dynamics in the past as well. Using an idealised population model, Anders Eriksson and Andrea Manica (2012) tested the hypothesis of the
Computer simulations
Usage of models, also allows to perform simulations, including in silica ones, to hypothesize evolutionary outcomes. As an example, PopG is a free computer program that is capable of simulating simultaneous evolution of populations based on Fisher-Wright model. Idealised population model also, could be used in several simple simulations designed for education. So, Charles Darwin: Can you survive? Simulation is designed to introduce general public to the concept of natural selection. Another example is Genetic Drift simulator (Requires an updated Java version), which is designed to visualize influence of genetic drift on natural populations.
References
- ^ . Nielsen, Rasmus, and Montgomery Slatkin. An Introduction to Population Genetics: Theory and Applications. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, 2013. Print.
- ^ .Crow, James F. "Population genetics history: a personal view." Annual Review of Genetics 21, no. 1 (1987): 1-22.
- PMID 12881568.
- ^ Eriksson, Anders, and Andrea Manica. "Effect of ancient population structure on the degree of polymorphism shared between modern human populations and ancient hominins." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109, no. 35 (2012): 13956-13960.
- Hanage, W. P.; Spratt, B. G.; Turner, K. M. E.; Fraser, C. (2006). "Modelling bacterial speciation". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 361 (1475): 2039–2044. PMID 17062418.