The characteristic time for new mutations to drift to high frequency under neutral evolution in the human population

Range ~1e+6 years
Organism Human Homo sapiens
Reference Sabeti PC, Schaffner SF, Fry B, et al. Positive natural selection in the human lineage. Science. 2006 Jun 16 312(5780):1614-20. p.1615 right column 3rd paragraphPubMed ID16778047
Comments "Reduction in genetic diversity can be particularly useful because it persists longer than other population genetic signatures. The characteristic time for new mutations to drift to high frequency under neutral evolution in the human population is ~1 million years. This means that statistically significant signals of selection can persist for several hundred thousand years, long enough to encompass the origins of modern humans."
Entered by slowkow
ID 110201