AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Genetic drift is the change in frequency of an existing gene variant in the population due to random chance. Genetic drift may cause gene variants to disappear completely and thereby reduce genetic variation. It could also cause initially rare alleles to become much more frequent, and even fixed.

Detailed explanation-2: -Genetic drift is a process in which allele frequencies within a population change by chance alone as a result of sampling error from generation to generation. Genetic drift is a random process that can lead to large changes in populations over a short period of time.

Detailed explanation-3: -Genetic drift describes random fluctuations in the numbers of gene variants in a population. Genetic drift takes place when the occurrence of variant forms of a gene, called alleles, increases and decreases by chance over time. These variations in the presence of alleles are measured as changes in allele frequencies.

Detailed explanation-4: -Genetic drift affects the genetic makeup of the population, but unlike natural selection, through an entirely random process. So although genetic drift is a mechanism of evolution, it doesn’t work to produce adaptations. Read more about: The mechanism of genetic drift, sampling error.

Detailed explanation-5: -Genetic drift can result in the loss of rare alleles, and can decrease the size of the gene pool. Genetic drift can also cause a new population to be genetically distinct from its original population, which has led to the hypothesis that genetic drift plays a role in the evolution of new species.