gen-briefly-explain-genetic-drift-and-one-common-misconception-a-adba

Briefly explain genetic drift and one common misconception about it.

## Genetic Drift **Genetic drift** is the random change in allele frequencies in a population from generation to generation due to chance events. It's particularly strong in small populations, where random sampling during reproduction can cause certain alleles to become more or less common—or disappear entirely—regardless of whether they're beneficial, harmful, or neutral. ## Common Misconception Many people mistakenly believe that **genetic drift only affects harmful or neutral alleles**. In reality, drift can cause even *beneficial* alleles to be lost from a population purely by chance, especially in small populations. A helpful mutation might appear in just one or a few individuals, and if those individuals happen not to reproduce (due to random events like accidents), that advantageous allele disappears—not because it was selected against, but simply due to bad luck. This demonstrates that evolution isn't always about "survival of the fittest"—random chance plays a significant role too.