What would happen if there are only 50 poeple on earth....

[handbanana]

and they have a duty to colonize earth and reproduce?

Are there any evolutionary advantages? What are the evolutionary outcomes? What about Hardy-Weinberg agents?

Thanks!

[alextemplet]

With that small of a population I would think there would be a serious risk of inbreeding.

[mith]

Founders effect

[AstusAleator]

Who says it's their duty to re-colonize? Perhaps it's their duty to go extinct with dignity...

Of course extinction might happen anyway due to the abovementioned factor among others.

To really try to project what would happen, we'd need to know what technology they have available, and what part of the world they're in? Also how many of them are the right age to breed? What are the cultural factors? Am I making this too complicated?

I can't think of any advantages of a genetic bottle-neck... I guess you could just hope for the best - that your 50 people represent a very diverse array of genetic traits.

[Darby]

Some anthropologists believe that such a thing may have happened (maybe not to 50, but a small group) before the second out-of-Africa radiation.

[AstusAleator]

For an interesting case-study of the founder effect, check out "Island of the Colorblind" by Oliver Sacks