Job Description of a Population Geneticist

Population genetics is a fairly recent branch of science.

Population genetics has developed in an attempt to explain why populations evolve as they do. It is a fairly recent branch of science, first appearing in the 1930s. Advances in technology has begun to link population genetics to other fields of biology, validating its legitimacy. This exciting field holds many opportunities.

Population Genetics

Population genetics attempts to explain and predict allele frequency.

Population genetics attempts to explain and predict allele frequency and evolutionary changes under the four basic evolutionary processes. These processes are natural selection, genetic drift, mutation and gene flow. This branch of science attempts to reason the occurrence of speciation and adaptation. It is a fairly recent area of study that continues to grow with new technology and information.

Hardy-Weinberg Principle

The effects of migration are not included in the Hardy-Weinberg principle.

The study of population genetics has its foundation in the Hardy-Weinberg Principle. This principle states that allele and genotype frequencies will remain constant in a population unless outside forces are introduced. These outside forces include mutations, migration or immigration, and selection. The population geneticist works to analyze the change in populations when these outside forces are present.

History

Population genetics was introduced in 1930 with R.A. Fisher's book, "The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection."

The concepts of population genetics were first introduced in 1930 with R.A. Fisher's book, "The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection." Fisher demonstrated that natural selection could alter the gene frequency of a population, leading to evolution. The American biologist Sewall Wright and the British geneticist J.B.S. Haldane also contribute to the beginnings of population genetics.

Criticisms

Population genetics has been criticized for being too theoretical.

Population geneticists have often been criticized for being too theoretical or idealized in their study. Their use of abstract models in science has gained criticism, despite the fact that population genetics have been central to evolutionary theory. The development of molecular biology has supplied data on the genetics of an actual population. This information has been able to link the theories of population genetics to real life groups of organisms.

Focus

Population genetics focuses on an entire population instead of an individual.

Unlike other studies in genetics, population genetics covers a much wider scope. Genetics tends to focus on the understanding of the inheritance of a single trait in individuals. Population genetics instead analyzes an entire population. For this reason evolutionary genetics is commonly studied in conjunction with population genetics.

References

• "The Concept of the Gene in Development and Evolution"; P.J. Beurton; 2000
• "Population Genetics: A Concise Guide"; John Gillespie; 2004