Questions tagged [selection]
The selection tag has no usage guidance.
33 questions
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What is the probability distribution of a neutral mutation's allele frequency after k-generations? (in asexually reproducing organisms)
I've had trouble finding info on how to model this problem, so figured I'd ask it here. I'm trying to figure out what the probability distribution is of the frequency of a mutation in a population ...
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Interpretation of narrow-sense heritability over one (using R/S = h^2)
Here is my data:
Mean height score of the total parental population: 5.2
Mean height score of selected parents (those chosen for breeding due to their higher height): 6.4
Mean height score of the ...
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Has artificial selection / selective breeding ever been targeted at intelligence?
Has it ever been attempted to breed a species, for example dogs, to maximize some aspect of intelligence? I find it particularly interesting to imagine one could selectively breed dogs to be able to ...
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Is there any running experiment to selectively breed non-human smart animals?
Is there any running experiment to selectively breed non-human smart animals?
I saw some scientists made overly tame and friendly foxes using fust selective breeding. Could it be possible to add the ...
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Why is linkage disequilibrium high on either side of a beneficial mutation, but not between sites across the mutation, during a selective sweep?
I was reading the paper "A survey of methods and tools to detect recent and strong positive selection" (2017) and came across this:
Upon fixation of the beneficial mutation, elevated levels ...
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How much Kanamycin is too much for selection in dh5α E. coli?
I'm using Kanamycin for selection after electroporation of my plasmid containing a kanamycin-resistance gene at a concentration of 50mg/L prepared in 1000x stock that is usually kept in frozen ...
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What is the mathematical relationship between selection coefficient and dN/dS
dN/dS is often used as a measure of the intensity of selective pressure on a mutation or gene, but I'm curious about how it can be written as a function of the selection coefficient. I'm specifically ...
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Novel bacterial strains of bacteria first isolated on the International Space Station, did the space environment lead to these genetic changes?
Question
Methylobacterium ajmalii sp. nov., Isolated From the International Space Station (Bijlani et al. Frontiers in Microbiology, 12, p. 534, 2021) is a thorough analysis of "novel strains&...
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Can a trait be too successful? Wouldn't overwhelmingly successful traits limit variability, which is one of the requirements of NS? [closed]
Can a trait be too successful? Wouldn't an overwhelmingly successful trait soon limit the gene pool, and if so, how would the process of natural selection react to that? If an individual is born ...
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Evolution at a glacial pace: how does it work? [duplicate]
Some trees are very long-lived, such as the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine and the Giant Sequoia (up to 4,800 years old).
How does natural selection and evolution affect such long-lived organisms? ...
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Selective breeding of organisms to survive on Mars [duplicate]
It seems that there may have been life on Mars, and it's also tempting to terraform and colonize the planet. This question is about testing the hypothesis "Can primitive life survive on Mars?&...
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The fraction of the genome that is evolutionarily conserved through purifying selection is less than 10%?
I would appreciate help in understanding the meaning, logic, and, in particular, how to interpret the phrase:
The fraction of the genome that is evolutionarily conserved through purifying selection ...
user55390
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Selection marker for a cytoplasmic vector that works at low expression levels?
I need to express a selection marker on a plasmid in human cells (e.g. HEK293). However, I am using a cytoplasmic vector derived from a non-human virus with its own mechanism for transcriptional ...
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When is it reasonable to assume selection for an observed change?
In speciation events, a lot of changes seems to appear simultaneously. How can a specific partial changes, occuring together with a lot of other changes, be said to be advantageous or disadvantageous?
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Does reversion of resistant strains to wild-type only occur when no more drug pressure is exerted
We always read that wild-type reversion of a resistant strain occurs when no more drug pressure is exerted. Could resistance reversion also occur under drug pressure, but from a drug other than the ...
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Selection coefficient of gorillas
I've been reading about selective sweeps. And I found a case study that talks about drosophila and how their selection coefficient is between 0.0001 and 0.005.
I want to know what it'll be like for ...
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What is it called when there is natural truncation selection?
Truncation selection is when a breeder selects for animals that exhibit a value for a trait that is above a certain threshold. What is it called when nature selects for a value of a trait that is ...
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Selective breeding and Mutagenesis
I am writing an argumentative essay in which I claim that GMOs are safe. I know, it is not proved, but for the sake of my course I want to prove it. The counterargument that my professor said to me is ...
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Evolutionary advantage of consciousness [closed]
What possible theories are out there, regarding the evolutionary benefits of having consciousness? Why is not all information processing done subconsciously?
Can it have something to do with language ...
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What is the difference between disruptive, divergent and diversifying selection?
In our lab meeting we were chatting about divergent selection. I was confused at some point because I wasn't sure what was the meaning of this work in comparison to diversifying/disruptive and other ...
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LacZ' selection: blue colonies despite ligation of insert
It has been suggested that bacteria transformed with pBlueScript vector, containing an insert in the middle of the lacZ' gene, can still give blue colour on X-gal, if the insert is small and ligated ...
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What are the 2 general systems to understand the whole natural world? [closed]
In Graham Bell's book Selection, it's written:
To some it may be a cause of regret that the natural world cannot be understood in terms of a single set of rules and laws, but at least, so far as ...
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Does anyone know of a study supporting predictions #2 or #9 of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis?
Regarding the 12 predictions made by the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (http://extendedevolutionarysynthesis.com/about-ees/), does anyone know of a study that supports #2 or #9?
It seems like #1, ...
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What's the correct name for the war of sexes in evolution?
I'm searching for the correct term for the part of the selfish gene evolution regarding sexes. In nature, this means the evolution of the traits such as the ducks' adaptation to "trap" the drakes' ...
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How do harsh conditions cause an increase in the male birth ratio?
I've heard that in harsh conditions more human baby boys are born than girls because a bigger ratio of them will die before reproductive age. But in which aspects of the random gene combination while ...
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Could habitat selection pattern be deformed in environment with low variability?
It is possible that strong (clearly visible) pattern of selection towards particular parameter is detectable only in environment with high variability (difference between used (red) and non-used (grey)...
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Can paralogous genes be under negative selection?
I have just aligned 9 paralogous genes from human, uploaded them into MEGA and calculated negative selection. Can there be negative selection acting in between paralogous genes? Or how should I ...
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Empirical evidence for species selection
Do we have any empirical evidence in favor of species (or lineage) selection? Do we know some cases that can only be explained (or seem to be only explained) by lineage selection? What are today the ...
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How can sex ratios remain Fisherian (1:1) in species where only the dominant male gets to mate
In certain species only the dominant male gets to mate (or given strong preference), and yet the sex ratio remains 1:1. (I'm thinking in particular of gorillas). How does this happen? It doesn't seem ...
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Sewall Wright for dunces
[This is one more post in my growing "X for dummies/idiots/morons/etc." series.]
I've been enjoying Provine's The origins of theoretical population genetics for the last couple of days, but I must ...
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Effect of zero selection (pressure) on the population health
Evolution naturally produces better features: stronger muscles, teeth and minds. Killing the weakest, evolution wipes defective genes out of populations.
The mutations are necessary for advance. ...
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How selfish is Dictyostelium slug formation?
Dictyostelium is a slime mold which is well known for having a single cell free living phase and other some conditions (e.g. when food is scarce) for forming communal piles of cells called 'slugs' ...
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Are genes associated with obesity selected for?
I've read that there are several SNPs associated with increased risk of clinical or morbid obesity. I was wondering if there is any evidence that these are under positive selection. Would you expect ...
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