Modeling of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium Using Dynamic Random Networks in an ABM Framework

Abstract

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is the fundamental principle of population genetics. In this article, we present a new NetLogo model called “Hardy-Weinberg Basic model v 2.0”, characterized by a strict adherence to the original assumptions made by Hardy and Weinberg in 1908. A particularly significant feature of this model is that the algorithm does not make use of the binomial expansion formula. Instead, we show that using a procedure based on dynamic random networks, diploid equilibrium can be achieved spontaneously by a population of agents reproducing sexually in a Mendelian fashion. The model can be used to conduct simulations with a wide range of initial population sizes and genotype distributions for a single biallelic autosomal locus. Moreover, we also show that without any mathematical formalism the algorithm is also able to confirm the prediction of Kimura’s diffusion equations on the time required to fix a new neutral allele in a population, due to genetic drift alone.