Hardy-Weinberg law

[ hahr-dee-wahyn-burg ]

noun

, Genetics.

1. a principle stating that in an infinitely large, randomly mating population in which selection, migration, and mutation do not occur, the frequencies of alleles and genotypes do not change from generation to generation.

Hardy-Weinberg law

/ här′dē-wīn′bûrg /

1. A fundamental principle in population genetics stating that the genotype frequencies and gene frequencies of a large, randomly mating population remain constant provided immigration, mutation, and selection do not take place. In the simple case of a chromosome locus with two alleles, A and a, with frequencies p and q respectively, the frequency of the homozygotic genotype AA under random mating will be p ², of heterozygotic Aa will be 2 pq, and of homozygotic aa will be q ². The law is named for its formulators, British mathematician Godfrey Harold Hardy (1877–1947) and German physician Wilhelm Weinberg (1862–1937).

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hardy-Weinberg law¹

1945–50; named after English mathematician G. H. Hardy and German physician Wilhelm Weinberg (1862–1937), who independently formulated it