Genetic Drift and Bottlenecked Ferrets | SimBio

TUTORIAL LAB – Lower Division

Overview

This lab, updated with on-screen instructions and instant feedback, explores how random genetic drift impacts populations, using a conservation-oriented story about rescuing black-footed ferrets from extinction. Students observe the rate of genetic drift in populations of different sizes and conduct experiments to investigate how and why population size affects changes in genetic diversity across generations. They become familiar with the meanings of heterozygosity and effective population size (Ne) in the course of their experimentation. The lab culminates with students applying these ideas to black-footed ferrets, a species that experienced a population bottleneck and is currently being managed both for population size and genetic diversity.

TYPE - Tutorial Lab T more info
LEVEL - Lower Division

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