Question

1. true or false? dominant alleles will always increase in frequency. explain your answer.

Explanation:

A dominant allele is not guaranteed to increase in frequency. Allele frequency change depends on natural selection, genetic drift, gene flow, etc. For example, a dominant allele causing a harmful trait (e.g., Huntington's disease allele) may not increase as it reduces fitness, so natural selection can act against it. Also, genetic drift (random changes in small populations) can make dominant allele frequencies decrease or stay same.

Answer:

False. Allele frequency (including dominant alleles) depends on factors like natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow. A dominant allele for a harmful trait (e.g., Huntington’s disease) reduces fitness, so natural selection may decrease its frequency. Genetic drift can also randomly lower dominant allele frequencies. Thus, dominant alleles do not always increase in frequency.