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Definition of Founder effect
1. Noun. A lessening of genetic variation when the entire population in question descends from a small number of founders. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Medical Definition of Founder effect
1. The establishment of a new population by a few original founders (in an extreme case, by a single fertilized female) which carry only a small fraction of the total genetic variation of the parental population [Ernst Mayr, 1963]. The result is that a given allele, gene, chromosome, or part of a chromosome found in members of the population can be traced back to one ancestral individual. (09 Oct 1997)