What is Genetic Drift?

Genetic drift is an evolutionary process marked by random changes in the occurrence of certain genes within a population over time. Genetic drift occurs due to chance events rather than natural selection. 

• This random process can lead to the complete loss of gene variants, resulting in decreased genetic diversity. It can also increase the frequency of initially uncommon alleles.
• In smaller populations, chance occurrences like genetic drift can significantly affect the genetic composition of the population due to the reduced number of individuals.
• The two main types of genetic drift are founder effect and population bottleneck. The founder effect occurs when a small group of individuals establishes a new population, and their genetic makeup influences the new population. Population bottleneck happens when a population undergoes a drastic size reduction, leading to a limited set of genetic diversity.