LIFE SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -In population genetics, the founder effect is the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population. It was first fully outlined by Ernst Mayr in 1942, using existing theoretical work by those such as Sewall Wright.

Detailed explanation-2: -The founder effect is an extreme example of “genetic drift.” Genes occurring at a certain frequency in the larger population will occur at a different frequency–more or less often–in a smaller subset of that population.

Detailed explanation-3: -Final answer: The factor that leads to the founder effect in a population is genetic drift.

Detailed explanation-4: -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-5: -Sometimes the change in allele frequency is so different in the new sample of population that they become a different species. The original drifted population, in such cases, becomes founders and the effect is called founder effect. Hence, founder effect is a consequence of genetic drift.