A New Altruistic Allele Arises in a Population Such That

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The Answer is To determine whether the altruistic allele is likely to increase in frequency in the population, we can use Hamilton's rule, which states that an altruistic allele will increase in frequency if the benefit to the recipient, weighted by the relatedness of the recipient to the altruist, exceeds the cost to the altruist.

In this scenario, the cost to the altruistic individual is the reduction in personal reproduction, from six offspring to three offspring. This means the cost (c) = 6 - 3 = 3.

The benefit to the recipient is the increase in offspring for the parents, from six to 12, with the help of the altruistic individual. This means the benefit (b) = 12 - 6 = 6.

Next, we need to consider the relatedness (r) between the altruistic individual and the recipients, which in this case is the parents. Since the altruistic individual shares 50% of their genes with their parents, the relatedness (r) = 0.5.

Now we can use Hamilton's rule, which is expressed as rb > c. Plugging in the values, we get:

0.5 * 6 > 3
3 > 3

Since 3 is not greater than 3, the altruistic allele is not likely to increase in frequency in the population based on Hamilton's rule. This means that the cost of reduced personal reproduction outweighs the benefit to the recipients, taking into account the relatedness between the altruistic individual and the recipients. Therefore, the altruistic allele is not likely to spread in the population.

A New Altruistic Allele Arises in a Population Such That

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