This unit introduces students to different kinds of genetic variation and the ways in which they are, and are not, important in fitness of individual organisms and viability of populations. A major distinction is made between functional genetic variation as opposed to the non-functional genetic variation typically used as a source of DNA-based tools to study the biology of organisms and their populations. After exploring these concepts, the unit expands on the control and inheritance of traits that have major influences in the lives of organisms. There follows an investigation of how ecological and conservation genetics is applied to real-world research and biological management, in a... -- Course Website
Instructor: Dr Paul Sunnucks
Prerequisites: 12 credit points of level one biology
