WHAT IS GENETIC DIVERSITY?
Genetic diversity is the variation of inherited traits that are found in a population of a species. It is a largely significant role in species evolution since it allows a species to adapt and change to an altering environment and help defend against parasites and diseases that can cause an entire population to collapse. Researching genetic diversity in humans can help scientists create and publish creditable theories on the origins of humanity and ancestral history.
WHY IS GENETIC DIVERSITY IMPORTANT TO THE SURVIVAL OF A SPECIES?
When the habitat of a population changes, the population will have to adapt to survive the new circumstances and requirements of the environment or they will be eliminated.
Species with minimal genetic diversity are at risk of being pressured and challenged by the environment which may lead to an unhealthy and struggling species. The lower the diversity, the more genetically identical each specimen is to the rest of the population. If a new environmental pressure occurs, such as disease or new competition, all of the specimens of the population may become infected by the disease and die. But in a population with high genetic diversity, the rate of survival against a new environmental or genetic challenge are better since some individuals have the genetic construction that allows them to survive against it (a type of immunity). These individuals will reproduce more since they are healthier mates, and the population will survive with the mutation being passed onto offspring, creating an entire population with the gene that allows them to overcome the environmental pressure.
The genetic diversity of a species is always in flux. No matter how many variants of a gene are present in a population today, only the variants that survive in the next generation can contribute to species diversity in the future. Once gene variants are lost, they cannot be recovered.
Genetic diversity is the variation of inherited traits that are found in a population of a species. It is a largely significant role in species evolution since it allows a species to adapt and change to an altering environment and help defend against parasites and diseases that can cause an entire population to collapse. Researching genetic diversity in humans can help scientists create and publish creditable theories on the origins of humanity and ancestral history.
WHY IS GENETIC DIVERSITY IMPORTANT TO THE SURVIVAL OF A SPECIES?
When the habitat of a population changes, the population will have to adapt to survive the new circumstances and requirements of the environment or they will be eliminated.
Species with minimal genetic diversity are at risk of being pressured and challenged by the environment which may lead to an unhealthy and struggling species. The lower the diversity, the more genetically identical each specimen is to the rest of the population. If a new environmental pressure occurs, such as disease or new competition, all of the specimens of the population may become infected by the disease and die. But in a population with high genetic diversity, the rate of survival against a new environmental or genetic challenge are better since some individuals have the genetic construction that allows them to survive against it (a type of immunity). These individuals will reproduce more since they are healthier mates, and the population will survive with the mutation being passed onto offspring, creating an entire population with the gene that allows them to overcome the environmental pressure.
The genetic diversity of a species is always in flux. No matter how many variants of a gene are present in a population today, only the variants that survive in the next generation can contribute to species diversity in the future. Once gene variants are lost, they cannot be recovered.