Genetic drift is the converse of natural selection. The theory of natural selection maintains that some individuals in a population have traits that enable to survive and produce more offspring, while other individuals have traits that are detrimental and may cause them to die before reproducing. Over successive generation, these selection pressures can change the gene pool and the traits within the population. For example, a big, powerful male gorilla will mate with more females than a small, weak male and therefore more of his genes will be passed on to the next generation. His offspring may continue to dominate the troop and pass on their genes as well. Over time, the selection pressure will cause the allele frequencies in the gorilla population to shift toward large, strong males.

Unlike natural selection, genetic drift describes the effect of chance on populations in the absence of positive or negative selection pressure. Through random sampling, or the survival or and reproduction of a random sample of individuals within a population, allele frequencies within a population may change. Rather than a male gorilla producing more offspring because he is stronger, he may be the only male available when a female is ready to mate. His genes are passed on to future generation because of chance, not because he was the biggest or the strongest. Genetic drift is the shift of alleles within a population due to chance events that cause random samples of the population to reproduce or not.

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