Does quasispecies theory apply to finite populations?
In the previous section, I have established that the quasispecies model is equivalent to the theory of mutation-selection balance in an infinite, haploid, asexual population. However, this equivalence does not necessarily imply that the quasispecies model applies to populations of RNA viruses, because these populations are finite. Jenkins et al. [5] argue that the total sequence space of an RNA virus is much larger than the sequence space a finite population of realistic size can cover, and that therefore the deterministic equations of the quasispecies model are inapplicable, because virus evolution is dominated by random genetic drift. A priori, this is a reasonable objection, and we have to test whether the quasispecies equations are indeed useless in any realistic setting, or whether maybe complete coverage of the sequence space is not necessary to observe quasispecies effects. (By quasispecies effects, I mean that the population behaves in a way that can only be explained through s
