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Genetic Load

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Definition

Genetic load describes the fitness burden resulting (principally) from deleterious mutations that accumulate within an organism’s genome and is estimated relative to a hypothetical mutation-free or fitness-optimized genome. Individual differences in mutation load, especially with respect to pleiotropic mutations, may be a major source of individual differences in both the variance and covariance among fitness indicating traits in humans and other sexually reproducing taxa.

Introduction

This entry will first review the conceptual basics of genetic load and will present a mathematical overview of the phenomenon. It will then consider the phenomenon in relation to its applicability to evolutionary psychology.

Review

Genetic Load

Genetic load is a term coined by Muller (1950) to describe a phenomenon first noted by Haldane (1937), namely the fitness loss that accrues principally from the accumulation of deleterious mutations (this being mutation load) in addition to the effects...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center Leo Apostel for Interdisciplinary Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Michael A. Woodley of Menie

Authors
  1. Michael A. Woodley of Menie
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Correspondence to Michael A. Woodley of Menie .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Woodley of Menie, M.A. (2016). Genetic Load. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2337-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2337-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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