Download Examples of Genetic Drift File

Genetic drift refers to the change in a type of genes in a population because of the random nature of
reproduction. In other words, when people who have the gene causing a specific genetic trait
reproduce with people who do not have the gene, the gene can become more popular or totally
disappear from the population.
Occurrences of Genetic Drift
Genetic drift can be seen in these examples:
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Of the two pink monkeys in the world – one male, one female – the female dies, ensuring that there
will never be a pure-bred pink monkey again.
A random succession of births results in all other hair colors going extinct within a village full of
redheaded people.
The freckled dazzle-flower exchanges genetic material with a small population of un-freckled dazzleflowers. After a few seasons, there are no un-freckled dazzle-flowers left.
The last green-eyed person in a small town dies, leaving only brown-eyed and blue-eyed people.
An airplane crash introduces the white heron, which loves spotted mackerel, into a population of
spotted and unspotted mackerel. Over time, fewer mackerel are born with spots.
A man steps on a group of beetles, randomly killing most of the green ones but leaving most of the
brown ones alive, resulting in fewer green beetles being produced in the population.
A wildflower population consisting of blue, purple, and pink flowers is subjected to a mudslide that
kills most of the blue ones. As time progresses, blue flowers eventually die out, leaving only purple
and pink wildflowers.
Due to random successions of births, a town has an unusually high population of people with
strawberry blonde hair, a trait that increases over time and leaves very few people with different hair
colors.
A large population of marmots, about half of which have spots, becomes very ill. More spotted
marmots than un-spotted marmots are left; as a result, un-spotted marmots become very rare as time
progresses.
The very last red-billed mallard dies, leaving only orange-billed mallard populations behind.
A large group of red poppies exchanges genetic material with white poppies. Over time, white
poppies become rarer and rarer while red poppies thrive.
With these examples, you probably now have a better idea of what genetic drift is, how it works in
the real world and what type of impact genetic drift can have on a species or on a population.