A permanent structural alteration in DNA that can be transmitted from one generation to the next Changes in DNA either have no effect or cause harm Occassionally a mutation can improve an organism's chance of surviving and passing the beneficial change on to its descendants
A term introduced in the late-nineteenth century to refer to large scale phenotypic change but which was appropriated by modern genetics to mean any genetic change, large or small A 'point mutation' is the single substitution of one base A 'translocation' is the reshuffling of a long sequence An 'inversion' is the inverting of a long sequence, and so on
A permanent structural alteration in DNA In most cases, DNA changes either have no effect or cause harm, but occasionally a mutation can improve an organism's chance of surviving and passing the beneficial change on to its descendants 1
The occurrence of mutations, and the hereditary transmission, under some conditions, of the characters so appearing, are well-established facts; whether the process has played an important part in the evolution of the existing species and other groups of organisms is a disputed question
Alteration in the genetic material of a cell that is transmitted to the cell's offspring. Mutations may be spontaneous or induced by outside factors (mutagens). They take place in the genes, occurring when one base is substituted for another in the sequence of bases that determines the genetic code, or when one or more bases are inserted or deleted from a gene. Many mutations are harmless, often masked by the presence of a dominant normal gene (see dominance). Some have serious consequences; for example, a particular mutation inherited from both parents results in sickle-cell anemia. Only mutations that occur in the sex cells (eggs or sperm) can be transmitted to the individual's offspring. Alterations caused by these mutations are usually harmful. In the rare instances in which a mutation produces a beneficial change, the percentage of organisms with this gene will tend to increase until the mutated gene becomes the norm in the population. In this way, beneficial mutations serve as the raw material of evolution
n (myoo-TAY-shun) Change in a gene or chromosome resulting in a new trait or characteristic that can be inherited Mutation can be a source of beneficial genetic variation, or it can be neutral or harmful in effect
An error in replication or other alteration of the nucleotide base sequence creating a change in the sequence of base pairs on a DNA molecule If the change occurs in the DNA of a somatic cell, the mutation may cause a change in the organism's phenotype (leading, for example, to cancer) but will not affect the organism's offspring; only mutations in the germ cells can cause heritable changes in the offspring
A truncation or change in the normal order of molecules in DNA that defines a specific gene A disease-causing mutation in a gene alters the gene blueprint and thus ultimately disrupts the construction of the normal protein encoded by the gene
A genetic term A mutation is a change in the genetic code from what is considered normal Mutations can occur normally and not all mutations are harmful
a change or alteration in form or qualities (genetics) any event that changes genetic structure; any alteration in the inherited nucleic acid sequence of the genotype of an organism
As now employed (first by de Vries), a sudden variation (the offspring differing from its parents in some well-marked character or characters) as distinguished from a gradual variation in which the new characters become fully developed only in the course of many generations
This term usually refers to a change in the sequence of the gene which codes for a protein If the sequence of the DNA gene is changed in any way, it will usually cause a change in the sequence in amino acids making up the protein that the gene codes for This can be a problem if the mutation is not intentional because it essentially means you are working with the wrong protein However, sometimes we make a mutation in a gene on purpose, such as the one we made to add on the histidines on the end of CFTR We did this by changing (mutating) the sequence of the CFTR gene carried by the baculovirus
Any heritable change in genetic material This may be a chemical transformation of an individual gene (a gene or point mutation), which alters its function On the other hand, this change may involve a rearrangement, or a gain or loss of part of a chromosome, which may be microscopically visible This is designated a chromosomal mutation Most mutations are harmful
A change (in the number, arrangement, or molecular sequence ) in the sequence of DNA coding in a gene that occurs by chance, or due to some external influence A permanent, heritable change in a gene or chromosome structure