Related topics: cancer , genes , protein , genetic mutations , evolution
Mutation
hideIn biology, mutations are changes to the nucleotide sequence of the genetic material of an organism. Mutations can be caused by copying errors in the genetic material during cell division, by exposure to ultraviolet or ionizing radiation, chemical mutagens, or viruses, or can be induced by the organism itself, by cellular processes such as hypermutation. In multicellular organisms with dedicated reproductive cells, mutations can be subdivided into germ line mutations, which can be passed on to descendants through the reproductive cells, and somatic mutations, which involve cells outside the dedicated reproductive group and which are not usually transmitted to descendants. If the organism can reproduce asexually through mechanisms such as cuttings or budding the distinction can become blurred. For example, plants can sometimes transmit somatic mutations to their descendants asexually or sexually where flower buds develop in somatically mutated parts of plants. A new mutation that was not inherited from either parent is called a de novo mutation. The source of the mutation is unrelated to the consequence, although the consequences are related to which cells were mutated.
Mutations create variation within the gene pool. Less favorable (or deleterious) mutations can be reduced in frequency in the gene pool by natural selection, while more favorable (beneficial or advantageous) mutations may accumulate and result in adaptive evolutionary changes. For example, a butterfly may produce offspring with new mutations. The majority of these mutations will have no effect; but one might change the color of one of the butterfly's offspring, making it harder (or easier) for predators to see. If this color change is advantageous, the chance of this butterfly surviving and producing its own offspring are a little better, and over time the number of butterflies with this mutation may form a larger percentage of the population.
Neutral mutations are defined as mutations whose effects do not influence the fitness of an individual. These can accumulate over time due to genetic drift. It is believed that the overwhelming majority of mutations have no significant effect on an organism's fitness. Also, DNA repair mechanisms are able to mend most changes before they become permanent mutations, and many organisms have mechanisms for eliminating otherwise permanently mutated somatic cells.
Mutation is generally accepted by the scientific community as the mechanism upon which natural selection acts, providing the advantageous new traits that survive and multiply in offspring or disadvantageous traits that die out with weaker organisms.
For more information about Mutation, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with mutations
Common mechanism underlies many diseases of excitability
13 hours ago |
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Inherited mutations in voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs) are associated with many different human diseases, including genetic forms of epilepsy and chronic pain. Theodore Cummins and colleagues, at Indiana University School ...
BBS proteins shown to run an export business that protects cilia
22 hours ago |
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A protein complex mutated in human disease removes excess signaling molecules to prevent them from damaging cilia, say researchers from UMass Medical School. The study will be published in the December 28 ...
Molecular anchor links the 2 inheritable diseases Fanconi anemia and Bloom's syndrome
Dec 24, 2009 |
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A new study establishes a molecular link that bridges two rare inherited disorders and explains why these diseases result in genetic instability. The research, published by Cell Press in the December 24th issue of the journal ...
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Mutant CTRC gene has a new way to trigger pancreatitis
Dec 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The CTRC gene is a lot like your baby brother—mutant and annoying. Drs. Miklos Sahin-Toth and Richard Szmola of the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology at Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental ...
Subtle change dramatically reduces pathogenic potential of Huntington's protein
Dec 23, 2009 |
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Scientists have identified a key molecular switch that may drive the onset of Huntington's disease (HD), an incurable neurodegenerative disorder that leads to severe disruptions in muscle coordination and cognitive function. ...
One step closer to closure: Neuroscientists discovery key to spinal cord defects
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
22 hours ago |
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Spinal cord disorders like spina bifida arise during early development when future spinal cord cells growing in a flat layer fail to roll up into a tube. In the Dec. 6 issue of Nature Cell Biology, researchers from the Jo ...
Gene for devastating kidney disease discovered
Dec 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from Children's Hospital Boston and Brigham and Women's Hospital have identified an important genetic cause of a devastating kidney disease that is the second leading cause of kidney failure in ...
Newly Discovered Gene Mutation Linked to Nerve Diseases
14 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have identified mutations in the gene for TRPV4 that cause two related degenerative motor nerve disorders, scapuloperoneal spinal muscular ...
Critical protein helps mend damaged DNA
Dec 24, 2009 |
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In order to preserve our DNA, cells have developed an intricate system for monitoring and repairing DNA damage. Yet precisely how the initial damage signal is converted into a repair response remains unclear. Researchers ...
'Notch'ing up a role in the multisystem disease tuberous sclerosis complex
13 hours ago |
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Two independent teams of researchers have identified a role for enhanced activation of the signaling protein Notch in tumors characterized by inactivation of either the TSC1 or the TSC2 protein. As indicated by Warren Pear, ...
Research yields new agent for some drug-resistant non-small cell lung cancers
Dec 23, 2009 |
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The ability to make, test, and map the atomic structure of new anti-cancer agents has enabled a team of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists to discover a compound capable of halting a common type of drug-resistant ...
High risk of colorectal, endometrial and Lynch syndrome cancers for MSH6 mutation carriers
Dec 22, 2009 |
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People carrying the germ-line MSH6 mutation are at high risk by age 80 years for colorectal and endometrial cancers and any cancer associated with Lynch syndrome, according to a new study published online December 22 in the ...
Scientists take important step toward the proverbial fountain of youth
Dec 22, 2009 |
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Going back for a second dessert after your holiday meal might not be the best strategy for living a long, cancer-free life say researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. That's because they've shown exactly ...
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