Introduction to Evolutionary Mechanisms and Genetics

Vocabulary flashcards focusing on key concepts, mechanisms of evolution, genetic mutations, and population genetics from Chapter 1 through Chapter 6 of the lecture notes.

Fitness

The measure of an organism's reproductive capability, where individuals that reproduce the most pass their genes and traits down to future generations.

Mutation

A change in the DNA structure of an organism, serving as the sole new source of genetic material or genetic variation in a population.

MC1R gene

A gene located on the sixteenth chromosome where a single gene manipulation leads to the combination of freckles and red hair.

Point mutation

A genetic mutation in which a single DNA base is switched out of the thousands present in an organism's genome.

Sickle cell anemia

A condition caused by a point mutation that alters hemoglobin in red blood cells into a spiky shape under low oxygen, while providing malaria resistance to heterozygotes.

Insertion or deletion mutation

A structural mutation where a whole section of DNA gets inverted upside down or swaps places with a section on another chromosome.

Huntington's disease

A genetic disorder caused by a gene copying extra material during recombination, creating an enlarged chromosome chunk that leads to health issues such as increased heart attack risk.

Lactose tolerance

A beneficial mutation that prevents the body from shutting down the production of the milk-digesting enzyme after childhood, common in historical pastoralist populations.

Tetrachromacy

A genetic mutation occurring in females (XX) where an extra fourth color cone develops in the eye, allowing enhanced differentiation across the yellow-orange-red spectrum.

Natural selection

An evolutionary process where environmental pressures favor specific traits, causing advantageous traits to increase in frequency in subsequent generations.

Genetic drift

A completely random change in gene frequency within a population that occurs independently of environmental pressures.

Founder effect

A type of genetic drift that occurs when a small fraction of a species migrates to a new location, causing future generations to reflect the limited gene pool of the founding population.

Bottleneck effect

An evolutionary event in which a catastrophic population collapse drastically reduces genetic variation among the surviving individuals.

Northern elephant seal

A species that suffered a population bottleneck down to 20 to 100 surviving individuals due to overhunting, leading to high genetic similarity and issues like asymmetrical skulls.

Gene flow

The exchange of genetic material that takes place when two previously isolated populations of the same species come back together and interbreed.

Zoonotic disease

An infectious disease that can transfer between animals and humans.