Quote:
Originally Posted by katwest
Hi, can you explain the concept of genetic drift a bit more? Not sure I'm following the risk...
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Genetic drift is the inadvertent loss of genetic variation due to small sample size. For example in a F2 generation derived from a F1 of dis-similar parents - there will be abundant genetic variation among F2 family members, each carrying a different combination of traits from the F1 parents. If you can only grow out 2-3 F2 individuals, you have a very small sample of the potential gene/trait combinations available - and have a high risk of not capturing the ideal combination you are looking for.