1LocusSim a mobile-friendly simulator for teaching population genetics

Abstract

SummaryBiology students often struggle with the fundamental concepts of evolutionary genetics, including genetic drift, mutation, and selection. To address this problem, 1LocusSim was developed to simulate the interaction of different factors, such as population size, mutation, selection, and dominance, to study their effect on allelic frequency during evolution. With 1LocusSim, students can compare theoretical results with simulation outputs and solve and analyze different problems of population genetics. The 1LocusSim web has a responsive design which means that it has been specifically designed to be used on smartphones. To demonstrate its use, I review the classical overdominance model of population genetics and highlight a characteristic that is often not explicitly stated. Specifically, it is emphasized that the equilibrium of the model does not depend on the homozygous selection coefficients but rather on the ratio of the selection coefficients. This is already clear from the classical formula but maybe not so much for students. Also it implies that the equilibrium can be expressed solely in terms of the dominance coefficient h. To verify these theoretical prediction, I utilize the simulator and calculate the equilibrium for the well-known case of sickle cell anaemia. Simulating basic population genetic models on smartphones can be a powerful learning aid that fosters critical skills and opens up new opportunities for Biology students. By utilizing this tool, students can learn at their own pace and convenience, anywhere and anytime. Software and data availability1LocusSim if freely available at https://1LocusSim-biosdev.pythonanywhere.com/. Website implemented under the Bottle micro web-framework for Python, with all major browsers supported. Contactacraaj@uvigo.es Supplementary informationThe manual and examples are available from the help button of the program or directly at https://acraaj.webs.uvigo.es/1LocusSim/1LocusSim_EN.html. Both the program and the manual pages are in English and Spanish.