Explain the following terms:
Mutation:
Topic: Mutation
Try it
Pick an option and check your answer. The full worked answer is below either way.
Answer
(a) It is a sudden change in one or more genes in an organism’s cells which is heritable.
A MUTATION is a sudden, heritable change in the GENETIC MATERIAL — in the base sequence of a gene, or in the structure or number of chromosomes.
The word that eliminates the wrong options is GENES. Options (b), (c) and (d) describe changes to the CENTROSOMES, the CELL MEMBRANE and the CELL SHAPE — all structural changes to a cell, none of them a change to the hereditary material. A change that does not alter the DNA cannot be inherited, whatever the option claims.
HERITABLE is the other key word. It distinguishes a mutation from an ACQUIRED character: a scar or a suntan changes the body but not the genes, and is not passed on.
MUTAGENS are the agents that cause mutations — ultraviolet and X-rays, radioactivity, and certain chemicals. Mutations are the ultimate source of the VARIATION on which natural selection acts.
It is a sudden change in one or more genes in an organism’s cells which is heritable.