Gene pool — Science definition
Defined in 2 courses:
- The total genetic variation in a population; breeding from a few individuals narrows it across the whole genome, not only at the selected gene. (Life Science & Scientific Inquiry)
- All of the alleles (gene versions) present in every individual of a population, together. (Life Science: Biology)
Where it is taught
- Selective Breeding & Genetic Diversity — Evolution, Evidence & Life History, Life Science & Scientific Inquiry, Grade 7
- Speciation & Mechanisms of Evolution — Evolution, Ancestry & Biodiversity, Life Science: Biology, Grade 10
In use
The cost is in the gene pool — the total genetic variation present in a population.
Selective Breeding & Genetic Diversity
Natural selection explains how populations adapt, but to understand how brand-new species arise we need to think in terms of the whole gene pool — every allele carried by every member of a population.
Speciation & Mechanisms of Evolution
Questions using gene pool
Problem 1
What is the ultimate source of all new alleles in a population's gene pool?
- Gene flow
- Genetic drift
- Natural selection
- Mutation
Answer and explanation
Mutation
Mutation is the only mechanism that creates entirely new alleles. Gene flow, drift, and selection can only shuffle, spread, or remove variation that mutation first produced.
Taught alongside
- artificial selection
- selective breeding
- heritability evidence
- selection pressure
- allele frequency
- mutation
- gene flow
- genetic drift
- reproductive isolation
- speciation