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Course: Middle school biology - NGSS > Unit 7
Lesson 3: MutationsMutations
Review your understanding of mutations in this free article aligned to NGSS standards.
Key points:
- A mutation is any change to the nucleotide sequence of a DNA molecule. Some mutations arise as DNA is copied. Others are due to environmental factors.
- A mutation in a gene can change the structure and function of the protein encoded by that gene. This, in turn, can affect an organism’s traits.
- Mutations can be considered harmful, beneficial, or neutral to an organism.
- Harmful mutations have negative effects on an organism’s health and survival. For example, some mutations cause inherited disorders such as sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis.
- Beneficial mutations have positive effects on an organism’s health and survival. For example, some people have mutations that lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
- Neutral mutations have no observable effect on an organism’s traits. For example, some gene mutations do not lead to amino acid changes, and so do not affect protein function.
Want to join the conversation?
- So you can change the DNA in humans/animals but has it actually been done in humans before? I know its been done in animals, but has anyone changed human DNA?(14 votes)
- He Jiankui affair
You can try to google it, but shortly: Yes, it was successful experiment however the scientist was sentenced for that(23 votes)
- If I got bit by a radioactive spider and turned into a hero,,,, Would that be a mutation?(11 votes)
- Well, technicaly that would be less of a natural mutation and more of a forced rearrangement of your dna involving your pores in your limbs. Although radioactivity is know to cause mutations, this spider doubtabley had enough in it to cause a mutation.(11 votes)
- Is there a specific limit to change the dna in human DNA?(5 votes)
- 2%. Otherwise you would no longer be human.
Hope this helps!(11 votes)
- Are most mutations beneficial?(8 votes)
- Like S F said, some mutations (like cancer) is deadly(4 votes)
- what happens if u get a rly bad genetic mutation or one that docs cant understand/haven't discovered(4 votes)
- That'll either be a huge accomplishment or a bad accomplishment (up to you).(9 votes)
- what is a mutation?(4 votes)
- From the article
Harmful mutations have negative effects on an organism’s health and survival. For example, some mutations cause inherited disorders such as sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis.
Beneficial mutations have positive effects on an organism’s health and survival. For example, some people have mutations that lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Neutral mutations have no observable effect on an organism’s traits. For example, some gene mutations do not lead to amino acid changes, and so do not affect protein function.
Beneficial mutation example: When humans were in their ape stage, they evolved over time; learning to use tools, create machines, and form a community. This is a beneficial mutation, as these skills are now very necessary to us these days.
Harmful mutation example: Sometimes however, some mutations end up becoming harmful. Cancer is a example of this. The parents might have had some harmful genes that put them at risk of cancer. When they had a kid, the genes mutated and formed a higher risk of cancer for the kid, sometimes just giving him cancer.
Neutral mutation example: Often times, these are small and unnoticed, because they don't really affect a human, or their DNA, or their biology. Different eye colors are an example of a neutral mutation.
Hope this helped :D(9 votes)
- what is a gene protein(1 vote)
- Proteins are large, complex molecules that play many important roles in the body. They are critical to most of the work done by cells and are required for the structure, function and regulation of the body’s tissues and organs. A protein is made up of one or more long, folded chains of amino acids (each called a polypeptide), whose sequences are determined by the DNA sequence of the protein-encoding gene.
Protein. Most familiar are proteins that make up structures, such as muscle and, very importantly, proteins that fold and form what are known as enzymes. These proteins help your body carry out all of the chemical reactions it needs to keep you alive.
Did this help at all?(9 votes)
- wait, so if you get a really good cell mutation, you might get something that maybe lowers your risk of getting cancer. Thats pretty cool and life saving(3 votes)
- Yes, while that is possible, and a nice possibility, some forms
of cancer are caused by mutations.(4 votes)
- How easy would you say it could be to have a mutation\be born with one percent wise?(3 votes)
- I am not sure what the exact odds are, but a lot of mutations go largely unnoticed, so it could be that a lot of people have at least one mutation.(3 votes)
- Sorry, In table 1 I didn't underestand it can someone help me(4 votes)