Questions about Mutation?

1) What is Mutation
- A Mutation is when a mistake is made during DNA replication during cell division. this means that the genetic code (i.e. the sequence of letters) is changed. E.g. If a cell had a gene of ACAGT, and it replicated it and made a mistake and got ACATT, that would be one mutation (more specifically a point mutation)
- There are several types of mutation:
- A Point Mutation. This is when one base in the DNA is replaced by another (i.e. ACAG --> ATAG). Mostly these have the least effect, because only one amino acid is changed at most (see my response to 3)
- A Deletion or Insertion. This is when one base is removed or added to a DNA chain. For example, ATACG --> ACTACG would be an insertion, whereas ATACG --> AACG would be a deletion. These have a bigger effect because they produce a frame shift - i.e. the whole of the Genetic Code is shunted along one, so when the DNA code is read in sets of 3 Bases (as DNA is) almost every set of 3 bases is changed

2) Why is Mutation so important to learn about?
- Because it is the very basis of how evolution works, and hence the very basis of how life as we know it has come to be. It's also vastly important in medicine. Many diseases are caused by mutations which produce bad things, most particularly cancer.

3) How does mutation work?
- How mutation occurs is basically what it is, in a simple sense. It can be caused by a number of things, chance, chemicals (for example carcinogens such as Nicotine). To fully understand how it occurs would take a lot more detail than I can give here. It's when a mistake occurs in the DNA replication process. I will explain how it has an effect.
- As you probably know, DNA codes for proteins, with each 3 bases coding for one amino acid. If you swap one of the bases for another base, it might code for the same amino acid, in which case there would be no effect. However, it might suddenly code for a different amino acid, in which case the protein produced would be different. The protein might suddenly have no effect, or it might suddenly do something different. The effect is more pronounced when a deletion or insertion occurs. This can suddenly change nearly all the amino acids in a sequence, giving a completely different protein.

3/4)
- Mutation is how new traits arise in Organisms. Changes in the genetic code give rise to new proteins, which have different effects. This gives rise to different traits in the organism, the very basis of how Evolution occurs. Mutations are what gave rise to different eye colours, hair colours, skin tones etc in Human populations.
- However, mutations can also be bad. Mutations are responsible for most growth deformities. Mutations in genes making them faulty or useless are what is responsible for many hereditary diseases. For example, Cystic fibrosis is caused by a mutated version of a certain gene. If an individual possesses only one faulty copy, it has no effect (they can still function perfectly using their one functional copy of the gene). However, if both copies of the gene in a person are faulty, they will have the disease.

Research into how and why genes mutate is a major area of research. If we can find out why Genes mutate, we might be able to stop them, which would cure a lot of diseases.

1. Mutations are a change in the structure of genes.
2. Its important to learn about because mutations will continue to occur throughout time. It also helps us learn about animals and organisms from way in the past before we had knowledge of genetics through reverse engineering.
3. This is difficult to explain in a simple manner..lol
4. I guess you could say mutations are responsible for our different races. For example chinese people typically have small eyes because the theory is that it kept their eyes warmer. They weren't always in the region they are in today. Anyway, its also important since people will continue to mix and reproduce with other races increasing genetic diversity

first i would like to ask what level would your question be for General:
mutations can be caused by external things like Ultraviolet light and gamma radiation and internal mutation like Cancer or Evolution
there are 2 different kinds of mutation ( i don't remember the names) one is evolving type changes to adapt to the enviroment. another one is one that is no good causes problems.