Advanced Placement / Biology

Population Genetics

Students use class data for the PTC (phenylthiocarbamide) tasting trait to derive allele frequencies for a population. Based on their phenotype and predicted genotype, students use “allele cards” to simulate the next generation and determine if allele frequencies change over time in the absence of selection, non-random mating, mutations, and migration.

Students may or may not observe genetic drift in the simulation due to the small population size of the class. Student-designed experiments focus on determining the effect of violating one of the Hardy–Weinberg conditions on allele frequencies in a gene pool.

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