As the idea of this lesson is not to destroy your thumbs due to intense coin flipping, we developed an "automatic-coin-flipper", simulating the process of random allele transmission, as well as random mating of mosquitoes.
You run it by simply pressing the buttons "Next Generation" below. The allele frequency for both alleles is initially set to 0.5. On the the graph you will see how the frequency of kdr_mut changes from one generation to the other. The Population Diagram below shows you the individual genotypes of male and female mosquitoes, as well as how the couples are formed. After they reproduced, you see the progeny (which are - to simplify - always two, male and female).
Exercise. Observe allele frequencies over 10 generations.
Advance the simulation to the next generation by pressing the button "Next Generation". Repeat this for 10 generations.
- Q. Does the allele frequency vary from generation to generation?
- Q. Does it go up or down?
- Q. When you repeat the experiment, do you get the same result? Explain you answer!
Vitual Mosquito Lab
Frequency Graph
Population Diagram
As you can see, the alleles "drift", or fluctuate from generation to generation in a given population. This process is called genetic drift, which is completely random, and can therefore not be predicted. We will now see what can happen to alleles in a population after many more generations.