Natural Selection and Genetic Engineering (Lecture 10 June 2025)

Question-and-answer flashcards that review the main ideas discussed in the lecture: the definition of natural selection, how advantageous traits propagate, the meaning of “survival of the fittest,” and the distinction between natural selection and genetic engineering.

What is natural selection?

A mechanism of evolution in which traits that improve an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce become more common in a population over successive generations.

In natural selection, what happens to advantageous traits?

They are more likely to be passed on to future generations because the organisms that possess them survive and reproduce more successfully.

Which phrase is commonly used to summarize natural selection?

“Survival of the fittest.”

How does natural selection differ from genetic engineering?

Natural selection is an undirected natural process driven by environmental pressures, whereas genetic engineering is a human-directed modification of an organism’s genome.