title: Caging and Uncaging Genetics.
abstract: It is important for biology to understand if observations made in highly reductionist laboratory settings generalise to harsh and noisy natural environments in which genetic variation is sorted to produce adaptation. But what do we learn by studying, in the laboratory, a genetically diverse population that mirrors the wild? What is the best design for studying genetic variation? When should we consider it at all? The right experimental approach depends on what you want to know.
authors.affiliation: University of Edinburgh, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tom J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Little
authors.affiliation: University of Edinburgh, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Colegrave
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005838:Genotype; D010641:Phenotype; D012107:Research Design; D012641:Selection, Genetic