Chapter 16, Problem 1NS.2QC

Summary Introduction

To determine:

Whether the Pingelapese population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium or not.

Introduction:

Hardy-Weinberg principle is used to determine whether a population is in equilibrium or not. Hardy-Weinberg principle states that genetic variations in a population would remain constant if there are no external disturbing factors. This principle was mathematically demonstrated by G. H. Hardy and Wilhelm Weinberg. Mathematically, it can be written as follows:

${\text{p}}^{\text{2}}{\text{+2pq+q}}^{\text{2}}\text{=1}$

Here, ${\text{p}}^{\text{2}}$ represents genotype frequencies of homozygotes AA.

q² represents genotype frequencies of homozygotes aa.

2pq represents genotype frequencies of heterozygotes Aa.