The proportion of a particular allele among all copies of a gene in a population, expressed as a decimal or percentage. It measures how common or rare different versions of a gene are in a population.
From Greek 'allelon' meaning 'of one another' (shortened to 'allele' in 1930s) and Latin 'frequentia' meaning 'a crowding or multitude'. The concept developed alongside population genetics in the early 20th century as scientists needed to quantify genetic variation.
Allele frequencies are like genetic opinion polls - they tell us what percentage of the population 'votes' for each version of a gene! What's amazing is that these frequencies can change dramatically over time, turning rare alleles into common ones through evolution.
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