The Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium—Some Helpful Suggestions

IN college General Biology curricula, the topic ofclassical genetics is typically followed by consider-ation of population and evolutionary genetics. After fundamental genetic principles are studied, students are introduced to the Hardy-Weinberg equi-librium as a continuum of Mendelian Genetics in a population context. Population genetics provides a logical segue to the study of evolution. Populations adhering to the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium provide a reference for studying evolutionary changes (Journet 1986). With this as a starting point, Darwin’s observations can be justified and quantified, as well as expanded upon, to include additional aspects of population and evolutionary genetics. The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is an algebraic mathematical tool for predicting allele frequencies, phenotypes and genotypes in populations (Cum