Talk:Drift load

Peer review

I have completed peer review of topic. I think? Let me know if you cant find it or something and I can send ya a link to the google doc. NatBar88 (talk) 20:24, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

Drift load historically means something else

Historically, 'drift load' means the phenomenon described by Kimura et al. 1963 https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/48.10.1303, describing how deleterious mutation-selection balance in an infinite population breaks down in a small population. Kimura has mutations in both directions, so fixation doesn't occur. This article is about something else, namely mutational accumulation (i.e. a series of fixations) in a small population, in which there are no reverse or compensatory mutations. I.e., it is about the rate of increase in load not its magnitude at a period of time, and it does not account for beneficial mutations that might counter it, so it is only a partial description of the rate of change. I propose renaming the page, although I'm not sure what to. Or perhaps it should be merged with mutational meltdown? Joannamasel (talk) 23:37, 26 November 2025 (UTC)