Population genetics

Population genetics is the study of the distribution of and change in allele
frequencies under the influence of the four evolutionary forces: natural
selection, genetic drift, mutation and migration. It also takes account of
population subdivision and population structure in space. As such, it is the
theory that attempts to explain such phenomena as adaptation and speciation.
Population genetics was a vital ingredient in the modern synthesis, its
primary founders were Sewall Wright, J. B. S. Haldane and Ronald Fisher, who
also laid the foundations for the related discipline of quantitative
genetics. Notable population geneticists of the mid-to-late 20th century
include Japanese Mooto Kimura, American Richard Lewontin and Italian Luigi
Luca Cavalli-Sforza.