Where Do New Alleles Come from?

Gene mutations provide new alleles, making these mutations the ultimate source of variation. A gene mutation is an alteration in the DNA nucleotide sequence, producing an alternate sequence, termed an allele. Mutations occur at random, and can be beneficial, neutral, or harmful.

What is the source of new alleles?

The ultimate source of all genetic variation is mutation. Mutation is important as the first step of evolution because it creates a new DNA sequence for a particular gene, creating a new allele. Recombination also can create a new DNA sequence (a new allele) for a specific gene through intragenic recombination.

Where do alleles come from?

One allele for every gene in an organism is inherited from each of that organism's parents. In some cases, both parents provide the same allele of a given gene, and the offspring is referred to as homozygous ("homo" meaning "same") for that allele.