Albinism, caused by a mutational disruption in melanin (skin pigment) production, has been observed in many species, including humans. In 1991, and again recently in 2017, the only documented observations of an albino humpback whale (named 'Migaloo') were observed near New South Wales. Recently, Polanowski and coworkers (Polanowski, A., S. Robinson-Laverick, and D. Paton. (2012). Journal of Heredity 103:130–133) studied the genetics of humpback whales from the east coast of Australia, including Migaloo. Assuming that Migaloo's albinism is caused by a rare recessive gene, what would be the likelihood of the establishment of a natural robust subpopulation of albino white humpback whales in this population?

Key Concepts

Recessive Genes

Recessive genes are alleles that do not manifest their traits in the presence of a dominant allele. For an individual to express a recessive trait, such as albinism, they must inherit two copies of the recessive allele, one from each parent. This concept is crucial for understanding the inheritance patterns of traits and predicting the likelihood of their occurrence in a population.

Population Genetics

Population genetics is the study of genetic variation within populations and how these variations change over time due to factors like natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow. It provides the framework for understanding how traits, such as albinism, can spread or diminish in a population, influencing the potential for establishing a subpopulation of albino individuals.

Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is a principle that describes the genetic variation in a population that remains constant from one generation to the next in the absence of evolutionary influences. It serves as a baseline to predict allele frequencies and assess whether a population is evolving, which is essential for evaluating the likelihood of a stable subpopulation of albino humpback whales.