Natural selection actively maintains and reduces genetic variation within populations
Natural selection both actively maintains genetic variation (such as through balancing selection) and reduces it (through positive directional and background selection).
The claim is specific, empirical, and well-supported by evolutionary biology literature. Multiple provided papers confirm that different modes of natural selection both purge or reduce variation (e.g., selective sweeps, background selection) and maintain variation (e.g., balancing selection, negative frequency-dependent selection).
Daniel R Schrider. Background Selection Does Not Mimic the Patterns of Genetic Diversity Produced by Selective Sweeps. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.120.303469
The paper discusses how negative and positive selection actively shape and reduce diversity across the genome.
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Piotr Minias, Michal Vinkler. Selection Balancing at Innate Immune Genes: Adaptive Polymorphism Maintenance in Toll-Like Receptors. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msac102
The review details how balancing selection mechanisms actively maintain variation in specific genes.
Ruzicka F, Zwoinska MK, Goedert D, Kokko H, Li Richter XY, Moodie IR, Nilén S, Olito C, Svensson EI, Czuppon P, Connallon T. A century of theories of balancing selection.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70103
The review outlines how balancing selection acts as a major evolutionary force to maintain genetic variation in populations.
Joanne R. Chapman, Tom Hill, Robert L. Unckless. Balancing selection drives maintenance of genetic variation in <i>Drosophila</i> antimicrobial peptides. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1101/298893
The study demonstrates that balancing selection actively maintains adaptive diversity in antimicrobial peptide genes.
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