that bestows upon its carrier an enhanced potential to and/or .

Beneficial alleles are associated with adaptations as well as increases in the Darwinian fitness of their .

Beneficial alleles interestingly are not necessarily the products of beneficial mutations since existing alleles, whether neutral or even detrimental, can become beneficial not just via mutation but also as a consequence of a change in either an organism's environment or in terms of what alleles are present in an organism's genome.

Contrast with neutral mutation, neutral allele, neutral variation, and allele (neutral). Contrast also with detrimental allele as well as deleterious allele and even lethal allele.