Founder Effect Research Paper

Words: 621
Pages: 3

The Founder Effect on the Human Genome
Genomes are composed of on an organism’s entire DNA set along with an organism’s genes. “Each genome contains all of the information needed to build and maintain that organism. In humans, a copy of the entire genome—more than 3 billion DNA base pairs—is contained in all cells that have a nucleus (U.S.).” The Founder Effect occurs when there is a lack of diversity within genes. Firstly, the Founder Effect takes place when non-diverse groups of organisms move to a different place. Secondly, autosomal recessive diseases can occur from the organisms moving to a different place. Lastly, the results of the Founder Effect can appear with in the small and new population, giving the new population an increased amount of diseases. For example, when a diverse population is sampled at random, it is possible for the random sample to not represent
…show more content…
According to the Social Dilemmas and Human Behavior website, the image, designed by the Cosnet lab, included a display to represent the Founder Effect. The image includes about 20 red circles and about 20 yellow circles in the “Mother Population,” but only one red circle with nine yellow circles in the “New Population.” The “New Population” showed through the random sample that the basically equal diversity in the “Mother Population” did not transfer as we see nine times more yellow circles than red circles within the “New Population” (Social). When the Founder Effect takes place, such as in the graphic referenced above, and the smaller random sample population is taken from the larger population as a whole, the sample population contains only a small portion of the former “genetic diversity” from the original population. Because of the limited diversity, the gene pool within the smaller population is more likely to have an increased amount of diseases among the organisms. These organisms are more likely to have diseases such as Cystic