If nuclear blasts, asteroids, or alien lasers killed off almost all humans on Earth, how many people would be needed to rebuild a genetically sustainable human population?
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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
- Gene Pool: The total collection of different genes within a population. A larger gene pool means more genetic diversity.
- Genetic Diversity: Having a wide variety of different genes within a population.
- Inbreeding Depression: The reduced biological fitness caused by loss of genetic diversity as a result of inbreeding, or mating between closely related individuals within a species.
- Recessive Genes: Genes that only cause a trait or disease when two copies are present (one from each parent).
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REFERENCES
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