This is a population genetics simulator. It simulates evolution in a two-allele system, with natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow. You can set separate survival and reproductive rates for each genotype per generation, number of immigrants of each genotype, percentage of each genotype which emigrates, and to simulate evolutionary bottlenecks and genetic drift you can set a maximum population size, after which the population crashes down to a lower population size (by randomly killing individuals of all genotypes). You can also use one set of parameters for a certain number of generations, then change the parameters and continue running the model, simulating environmental variability. The main interface to the program is a graph window where you can choose to plot the frequencies of each of the genotypes in the population, the allele frequencies, the population sizes of each genotype, and/or the total population size. All of these results and more are also shown in a table at the bottom of the window. To facilitate comparisons between the results from different parameters settings, you can run multiple trials and plot one trial on top of another. All the parameters are set within a single dialog box.

This program is quite nicely laid out, with a lot of information and controls put into a single window and a single dialog box in a way that makes them both easy to access and not too confusing. I expect that students would need a few minutes to figure out the what they were looking at, but once you get comfortable with it then the program is very easy to use. The program is flexible enough to do a most evolution experiments you could think of doing with a two alleles at a single locus. The manual is clear and well written, and includes exercises to get students started. This program should be useful from introductory through advanced undergraduate genetics and evolution courses, especially in courses which plan to make somewhat extensive use of computer simulations (say more than one or two hours).

Computer: Macintosh

Source: BioQuest

Cost: Low (single user) / High (site license)

Last update 22nd of January 1996