Hardy–Weinberg principle
Imagine you have a bowl of different colored M&M's. Each color represents a different gene in a population of creatures. Let's say you have a group of five creatures - two red, two blue, and one green. This is called the gene pool.
The Hardy-Weinberg principle is like a rule about how the gene pool should look over time. If the population is not changing, the gene pool should stay the same, meaning the ratio of the genes should be constant. So, if there are two red M&M's, and nothing changes, then there will always be two red M&M's.
Now, let's say that things change. Maybe a bird swoops in and eats one of the blue creatures. Now, there are only four creatures left, but the gene pool is still the same. However, if the blue creatures are more likely to get eaten than the red creatures (maybe they're easier to spot against the green grass), then over time the ratio of genes in the population will shift. There will be fewer blues and more reds.
This principle explains how populations of living things change over time. If you know how often a particular gene appears in a population, you can predict how the population will change over time based on factors like natural selection or random events.
The Hardy-Weinberg principle is like a rule about how the gene pool should look over time. If the population is not changing, the gene pool should stay the same, meaning the ratio of the genes should be constant. So, if there are two red M&M's, and nothing changes, then there will always be two red M&M's.
Now, let's say that things change. Maybe a bird swoops in and eats one of the blue creatures. Now, there are only four creatures left, but the gene pool is still the same. However, if the blue creatures are more likely to get eaten than the red creatures (maybe they're easier to spot against the green grass), then over time the ratio of genes in the population will shift. There will be fewer blues and more reds.
This principle explains how populations of living things change over time. If you know how often a particular gene appears in a population, you can predict how the population will change over time based on factors like natural selection or random events.