How can evolutionary biologists use Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium while studying po

Question

How can evolutionary biologists use Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium while studying populations of organisms that they suspect may be evolving?

a Scientists can tell a population is evolving if the allele frequencies change.

b Scientists can tell a population is evolving if the genotype frequencies are constant.

c Scientists can tell a population is evolving if the frequencies of homozygous dominant and homozygous recessive individuals are not equal.

d Scientists can tell a population is evolving if the frequencies of homozygous dominant and homozygous recessive individuals are equal.

Explanation / Answer

Evolutionary biologists can use Hardy -Weinberg equlilibrium and cam suspect that a population might be evolving if the allele frequencies change. When populations are in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and not evolving, the allele frequencies stays the same across generations. Moreover, the allele frequencies subject to evolution might be a result of gene flow, mutation, selection, mating and large population size. None of this factors take place in case of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. So, evolution do not occur. Hence, the correct option is a.

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