Practice question

Founder effect occurs when few individuals establish new population, carrying only subset of source gene pool, causing allele frequencies to differ and heterozygosity to drop. Classic examples include Amish and Tristan da Cunha islanders showing high incidence of rare recessive disorders due to few founders. Subsequent drift further differentiates population. This illustrates how colonization creates divergence without selection. Outcome includes Small group colonizes shaping genetic architecture of isolated communities. This concept integrates genetics, ecology and molecular evidence, frequently tested in NEET, GATE and CSIR-NET, highlighting links between genotype, phenotype and environment.