What is the term for the movement of alleles into or out of a population?

The correct term for the movement of alleles into or out of a population is gene flow. Gene flow occurs when individuals from different populations interbreed, resulting in the exchange of genetic material. This process can introduce new alleles into a population or remove alleles, thus impacting genetic diversity and potentially influencing evolution.

Gene flow is important because it helps maintain genetic variation within populations and can prevent populations from becoming genetically distinct from one another. This movement of alleles can occur through mechanisms such as migration, where individuals move from one area to another and breed with the local population.

The other options describe different concepts in genetics: gene frequency refers to how common an allele is in a population, genetic drift is a change in allele frequency due to random sampling effects, especially in small populations, and gene mutation involves permanent alterations in the DNA sequence of an organism. Each of these plays a role in the overall dynamics of populations but does not specifically address the movement of alleles between them like gene flow does.