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Founder Effect

Definition
AI-generated

The founder effect is strong genetic drift when a new population is established by a small number of colonists or survivors: allele frequencies can differ sharply from the source population by sampling chance, increasing homozygosity and the prevalence of some variants—including disease alleles—even without selection.

Topics
Population genetics
Related
Admixture Genetic Bottleneck Inbreeding Coefficient

Why it matters in GWAS

Isolated cohorts (e.g. historical population isolates) show extended LD, enriched locally common variants, and founder mutations that simplify discovery but require care in imputation, meta-analysis, and polygenic score portability.

Example usage

"The discussion interprets Founder Effect cautiously after accounting for demographic history and sampling bias."

Admixture Genetic Bottleneck Inbreeding Coefficient Linkage Disequilibrium (LD) Population Isolate Population Expansion
Related-term network

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References

  • Charlesworth B, Charlesworth D. (2010). Elements of Evolutionary Genetics. Roberts and Company.
← Foundation Model Frameshift Variant →

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