Gene flow — Science definition
The movement of alleles between populations when individuals (or their gametes, like pollen) migrate and interbreed, which tends to make populations more genetically similar.
Where it is taught
- Speciation & Mechanisms of Evolution — Evolution, Ancestry & Biodiversity, Life Science: Biology, Grade 10
In use
The second is gene flow: when individuals migrate between populations and interbreed (or when pollen blows from one field to another), alleles move with them.
Speciation & Mechanisms of Evolution
Questions using gene flow
Problem 1
Answer and explanation
Gene flow moves alleles between populations and keeps their gene pools mixed and similar, so they can't diverge into separate species. Reproductive isolation stops that exchange of genes, letting mutation, drift, and selection push each population's gene pool in its own direction until they become separate species.
Problem 2
Answer and explanation
Gene flow is the movement of alleles between populations through migration and interbreeding. It mixes the two gene pools, so differences that accumulate in one population are shared with the other instead of remaining local. Divergence requires differences to build up separately, so continuing gene flow works against it, which is why isolation is usually a precondition for speciation.
Response criteria
- State a biologically accurate conclusion.
- Show the data, mechanism, or calculation that supports it.
- Include units, conditions, or limits where relevant.