The Hardy-Weinberg principle makes several assumptions to ensure that allele frequencies in a population do not change, or remain in equilibrium. One of these assumptions is that there is no selection, meaning all genes are equally likely to be passed on to the next generation.

Epistasis contradicts this assumption. Epistasis is a phenomenon where the effect of one gene is dependent on the presence of one or more 'modifier genes'. This means that the fitness of a genotype is not always a simple average of the fitness of its component alleles, which contradicts the assumption of no selection in the Hardy-Weinberg principle.

In other words, due to epistasis, certain combinations of alleles may be more beneficial (or detrimental) than others, leading to non-random mating and thus violating the Hardy-Weinberg principle.

Question

The Hardy-Weinberg principle makes several assumptions to ensure that allele frequencies in a population do not change, or remain in equilibrium. One of these assumptions is that there is no selection, meaning all genes are equally likely to be passed on to the next generation.

Epistasis contradicts this assumption. Epistasis is a phenomenon where the effect of one gene is dependent on the presence of one or more 'modifier genes'. This means that the fitness of a genotype is not always a simple average of the fitness of its component alleles, which contradicts the assumption of no selection in the Hardy-Weinberg principle.

In other words, due to epistasis, certain combinations of alleles may be more beneficial (or detrimental) than others, leading to non-random mating and thus violating the Hardy-Weinberg principle.

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The Hardy-Weinberg principle makes several assumptions to ensure that allele frequencies in a population do not change, or remain in equilibrium. One of these assumptions is that there is no selection, meaning all genes are equally likely to be passed on to the next generation.

Epistasis contradicts this assumption. Epistasis is a phenomenon where the effect of one gene is dependent on the presence of one or more 'modifier genes'. This means that the fitness of a genotype is not always a simple average of the fitness of its component alleles, which contradicts the assumption of no selection in the Hardy-Weinberg principle.

In other words, due to epistasis, certain combinations of alleles may be more beneficial (or detrimental) than others, leading to non-random mating and thus violating the Hardy-Weinberg principle.

What assumption of Hardy-Weinberg's principle does epistasis contradict?-a level biology ocr a

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What assumption of Hardy-Weinberg's principle does epistasis contradict?

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