: the passage and establishment of genes typical of one breeding population into the gene pool of another
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebPeople could lend eelgrass a helping hand, Kollars says, either by moving seeds and plants around to increase gene flow or by using eelgrass nurseries to support restoration efforts. Rebecca Dzombak, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Aug. 2022 Exactly where this gene flow took place—whether on the South American coast or in the Marquesas Islands (where it first appeared)—cannot be answered with current genetic evidence.Scientific American, 16 Aug. 2021 The revisions include removing the population cap, adding a genetic objective to address limited gene flow, and restricting several ways in which land managers and private landowners are allowed to kill wolves, also called take provisions. Lindsey Botts, The Arizona Republic, 31 Oct. 2021 Recently evidence of gene flow between Native American populations and Pacific Islanders has been found that dates to several hundred years before European contact: as early as approximately A.D. 1150.Scientific American, 16 Aug. 2021 In doing so, scientists are able to trace the biogeographic history of infraspecific populations and better comprehend other factors like gene flow, fragmentation, range expansion and colonization. Julia Musto, Fox News, 16 May 2021 In small populations with restricted growth and little gene flow from the outside, even less helpful genetic features can become more commonplace through sheer chance.Quanta Magazine, 21 Apr. 2021 Traphagen says the wall won’t just affect individual locales like San Bernardino, but could change migration and gene flow at a continental scale. Richard Laugharn, National Geographic, 2 Nov. 2020 Yet oaks form what is called a syngameon, in which ecologically and physically distinctive species persist in spite of ongoing gene flow. Andrew L. Hipp, Scientific American, 15 July 2020 See More
Word History
First Known Use
1939, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
gene flow
noun
: the passage and establishment of genes typical of one breeding population into the gene pool of another