Mutation - Key terms



AMINO ACIDS:

Organic compounds made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and (in some cases) sulfur bonded in characteristic formations. Strings of amino acids make up proteins.

CHROMOSOME:

DNA-containing bodies, located in the cells of most living things, that hold most of the organism's genes.

CONGENITAL DISORDER:

An abnormality of structure or function or a disease that is present at birth. Congenital disorders also are called birth defects.

DNA:

Deoxyribonucleic acid, a molecule in all cells, and many viruses, containing genetic codes for inheritance.

GENE:

A unit of information about a particular heritable trait. Usually stored on chromosomes, genes contain specifications for the structure of a particular polypeptide or protein.

GERMINAL MUTATION:

A mutation that occurs in the egg or sperm cells, which therefore can be passed on to the organism's offspring.

HERITABLE:

Capable of being inherited.

MUTAGEN:

A chemical or physical factor that increases the rate of mutation.

MUTATION:

Alteration in the physical structure of an organism's DNA, resulting in a genetic change that can be inherited.

NATURAL SELECTION:

The process whereby some organisms thrive and others perish, depending on their degree of adaptation to a particular environment.

ORGANIC:

At one time chemists used the term organic only in reference to living things. Now the word is applied to compounds containing carbon and hydrogen.

POLYPEPTIDE:

A group of between 10 and 50 amino acids.

PROTEINS:

Large molecules built from long chains of 50 or more amino acids. Proteins serve the functions of promoting normal growth, repairing damaged tissue, contributing to the body's immune system, and making enzymes.

RNA:

Ribonucleic acid, the molecule translated from DNA in the cell nucleus, the control center of the cell, that directs protein synthesis in the cytoplasm, or the space between cells.

SOMATIC MUTATION:

A mutation that occurs in cells other than the reproductive, or sex, cells. These mutations, as contrasted with germinal mutations, cannot be transmitted to the next generation.

SPECIATION:

The divergence of evolutionary lineages and creation of new species.

TRANSLOCATION:

A mutation in which chromosomes exchange parts.

Also read article about Mutation from Wikipedia

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