Questions tagged [mutations]
A change in an organism's genomic sequence.
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Are probabilities of mutations symmetric?
For the premise of this quiestion let's assume that there is an allele A and an allele B. The allele A has a probability P to mutate into the allele B in the given timeframe.
Is it also true that the ...
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On the science of DNA modifications putting animal genes into humans and modifying a human
I am wondering about the possibility of modifying DNA or changing DNA of a human being....
I am wondering if something like this can be possible in the future when DNA structure has been fully ...
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108 views
Is natural selection actually random?
In the Theory of Evolution, two main factors take place:
One is random, which are the different mutations that organisms' DNA suffer. This process adds genetic variability to a given population.
The ...
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How do the CFTR alleles interact within an individual with Cystic Fibrosis when mutations of different classes are present?
So mutations in CF are classified by the severity of the impact on the production of the CFTR.
But an individual may have two different CFTR mutations.
I assume that the least severe mutation of the ...
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1answer
46 views
De novo mutation selectivity
I was recently reading about genetic diseases and came to understand that many of them are caused by de novo mutations in the prezygotic or early embryonic stages of the life cycle of the organism. ...
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gene inversion and DNA directionality
The directionality of the DNA goes from the 3-prime end to the 5-prime end.
Thus, the inversion of a gene would connect a 5-prime to a 5-prime. How could that be?
Maybe inverting a gene also ...
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71 views
Are there known chains of beneficial mutations?
Are there known examples of chains of beneficial mutations?
What I mean by that is a mutation that leads to a series of mutations occurring after each other over a relatively short period of time ...
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1answer
21 views
Can mutation take place in G1 and G2 phases during the cell cycle?
We know that the DNA replicates during the S phase in Interphase. There it might undergo a number of mutations. We also know that the forward half strands are more susceptible to undergoing a mutation ...
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Why the major gene model can be supported by finding de novo mutations in affected cases?
I found a sentence which I can't fully understand in a publication on the genetics of autism.
The unified major gene model is supported by the significant increase
in damaging de novo mutations ...
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2answers
36 views
Exact definition of homoplasy?
I am a poor mathematician looking into the Sars-Cov-2 genome. Is there a proper definition of the word homoplasy? Is it just mutations that happened independently or does there have to be indications ...
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Technical term for a mutation that only occurs after a preceding one
Consider a hypothetical population of 1000 organisms.
(a) 300 of these 1000 have a T to G substitution at a specific position 1.
(b) 200 of these 1000 have an A to T substitution at a second ...
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35 views
How can a homozygous mutation, considered pathogenic, occur on a gene such as HFE without the disease developing?
What happens when you have a homozygous mutation on a gene (eg. a swapped base), that is considered pathogenic, but without developing the disease?
It it were a heterozygous mutation I would get it, ...
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Radiation mutation breeding in plant seeds: practical aspects
I did read some seed irradiation papers and they all use Gy as unit of measure, however I have never seen seed weights reported.
How did they calculate that, since Gy is J/kg?
Differencies aside ...
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Is it possible to force Sars-Cov-2 virus to mutate?
The title may definitely be a stupid question since I have no background in biology. I would like to know if the coronaviruses or any other can be manipulated artificially so that they stop spreading ...
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1answer
44 views
Genetic mutations in plants
I am trying to plant some trees which are usually native to colder climates into Subtropical climate, is there any possibility that if i plant these 20 trees saplings in winters they will grow to be a ...
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1answer
108 views
What is the probablity that SARS-CoV-2 will mutate? [closed]
In many epidemic/pandemic situations, a lot of time the pathogen in question will mutate. For reference, this is the definition of mutation taken from Wiki:-
A mutation is an alteration in the ...
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2answers
92 views
What's the difference between mutation and substitution rates?
The Wikipedia section on substitution rates (shown below) isn't clear to me. What's the precise definition and difference between mutation and substitution rates, and how do they relate to each other?
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1answer
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Viral mutation rates and replication
TL;DR
What's the relationship between the following?
Mutation rates (expressed as "mutations per year" for a virus like e.g. COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). E.g. this article mentions "The rate ...
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1answer
283 views
Is Covid-19 likely to mutate into a deadlier form?
When the Spanish influenza hit in 1918, it struck in two waves. The first wave was typical for a flu virus, targetting mainly elderly people, but the second wave was far deadlier and killed far more ...
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If mutations are random, why do antibiotics 'cause' resistance?
Full disclosure: I am not a biologist and this is more of a general question about understanding antibiotic resistance of bacteria.
We are always told that careless antibiotics use is the cause of ...
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Poor Hygiene vs. Cross-species transmission?
Did a poor hygiene at wet Chinese markets add anything to equation to trigger critical mutation of COVID-19 helping it to transmit the virus from bats/pangolins to humans?
If not, would it spread to ...
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1answer
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How many times has SARS-CoV-2 mutated?
According to
Coronavirus has mutated at least once
The novel coronavirus that has infected thousands of people across the
world may have mutated at least once — meaning there may be two
...
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1answer
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Whether de novo mutation can be inherited or not?
Think about the following scenario: A child is diagnosed as having long QT syndrome, an autosomal dominant disease. However, neither of his parents is affected. This may be due to a new mutation in ...
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2answers
205 views
Can Coronaviridae mutate into something as dangerous as Flioviridae? [closed]
Can coronaviruses mutate to an extent to get as dangerous as fliovirusues such as Marburg viruses, Ravn or Ebola Zaire?
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Is the frequency at which a species mutate affected by natural selection? [duplicate]
As per natural selection, is it safe to assume that some species will have it genetically encoded so that they produce a certain 'perfect' rate of mutation so that they can adapt to an environment ...
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Are all carcinogens mutagens?
I assume that all carcinogens must be mutagens, but I've read that this is not the case. However, I can't find any good examples or an explanation of why it is not the case.
How can a non-mutagenic ...
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KRAS gene and K-Ras Mutations
This question pertains to the KRAS wikipedia page, and I just want to double check and clarify my own understanding of how this mutation works in cancer.
It states:
K-Ras protein acts like a switch ...
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1answer
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Is there a difference between splice-site mutations, and non-stop mutations
I'm working on a bioinformatics project where a lot of the biology I've had to learn from scratch. From my current understanding, a non-stop mutation alters a stop codon such that the transcription ...
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Is it possible to buy a DNA sample with a specific mutation?
I would like to test a genotyping method (ARMS) on a specific human snp (heterozygous or homozygous ).
Unfortunally, we do not have any dna samples with the mutation.
Is it possible to buy somewhere a ...
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What is the average number of alleles per gene we have today?
Yesterday I was making some calculations, and I started to wonder the average number of alleles per gene the human species have today. The best question would be how many mutations per base or how ...
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1answer
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Who invented dN/dS?
I am writing a paper, and I want to refer to the original paper that coined the term dN/dS (or Ka/Ks for that matter). I have found early works on dN and dS (like Miyata and Yasunaga 1980), but cannot ...
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4answers
106 views
Why do mutations not take place in mRNA of higher eukaryotes?
Is it because it is too short-lived to be mutated? Both DNA and RNA are nucleic acids so how is mRNA protected? RNA viruses undergo mutations to evolve so I guess it is not immune to mutations
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How many kangaroos would you have to add to a northern climate before they could start adapting to it? [closed]
If some enterprising billionaire wanted to introduce Kangaroos to a northern climate such as the northern boreal forest by Fort McMurray in Alberta, would it be possible for the Kangaroo's to survive ...
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Non-coding DNA as a protection to deleterious mutations
We know that most part of our genome (at least 75 percent) is non-coding DNA. Can it be a way to protect the organism from mutations in important genes, such as the ones which control cellular cycle, ...
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Is UV radiation more likely to cause mutations during mitosis?
According to Life: The Science of Biology (10th edition), UV radiation might cause the formation of pyrimidine dimers, which are the primary cause of skin cancer in humans.
Are mutations more likely ...
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1answer
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Explain to a layperson how cigarettes smoke might cause cancer
I have a very intelligent friend who is a light smoker, and also a Biology layperson.
I wondered whether understanding exactly how cigarettes smoke can cause cancer, might encourage him to smoke less ...
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Meaning of letter “c” in description of mutation: “Homozygous c.195C>G; (p.Cys65Trp)”
In a table in a paper titled Cerebral folate deficiency: Analytical tests and differential diagnosis, there's the following description of a mutation in a patient:
Homozygous c.195C>G; (p.Cys65Trp)...
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1answer
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Emergence of novel protein interactions by mutation of amino acids
Are there any examples of proteins that, without coming from a recent duplication event, underwent a mutation(s) that caused it to have a novel interaction with a new ligand, substrate, other protein ...
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Are Males the main evolutionary tool for production of genetic variation necessary for evolution?
What I'm saying here is just a personal reflection, that might turn to be gravely erroneous, actually I'm asking that because I didn't see it presented elsewhere.
Evolution is propelled by two ...
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1answer
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Can threat to survival increase mutation rates in germline cells?
Can stress that is related to a threat of survival of a population of animals or plants in some environment, like due to hunger, thirst, fear from predators, etc..; results in an increase in average ...
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Is there a known mutation of an insertion type that prevents being infected by a virus?
Recently there was big news about the mutation CCR5 delta 32, that prevents HIV from infecting white blood cells, that was a deletion type of a mutation.
Do we know of an insertion type of mutation ...
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How does bonding between non-complementary bases occur?
My teacher told me that when DNA polymerase makes an error (roughly every 10 million nucleotides?) that if, for example, it matches an A with a G that the error remains and is the main cause of point ...
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1answer
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Does the mutation CCR5-delta 32 increase the genetic info?
My understanding is that the mutation CCR5-delta 32 caused the CCR5 co-receptor to be of a different shape, resulting HIV virus to not be able to attach itself to it.
My question, this shape/mutation,...
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If bacterial resistance randomly occur, then why limit broad-spectrum antibiotic use?
If there is importance to study some discipline, then one of the main matters is its applications, so besides the primary goal of knowing the truth of the matter regarding what that discipline is ...
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Is evolution theory falsifiable by whether mutations result in a loss or gain of genetic information? [closed]
If I understand the theory correctly, evolution revolves around the process of adaptation of a being to its environment which results in the increment of survival and reproduction chances for that ...
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2answers
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How do transgenic transformations cause off-target phenotypes?
I read that transgene insertions can cause off-target mutations that result in a phenotype being overly ascribed to the transgene, e.g. the increase of lifespan being ascribed to Sir2 overexpression (...
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How do mutations with very little fitness benefit get fixed?
I have one little issue with evolutionary theory that I have not been able to understand.
Suppose genetic mutations happen from generation to generation. Nevertheless, from one generation to the next ...
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Are STOP codons impacted by base insertion or deletion mutation?
I am learning about base insertion and deletion mutations. An example in my textbook is given below.
GUU CCA CAU AUC.
So if there is an insertion (of guanine):
GUU GCC ACA UAU C_ _ (there will be a ...
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4answers
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Are mutations a source of genetic variation?
Here is a question from the book SAT II Success Biology E/M (where the SAT is the exam taken by the American high school students):
Which of the following statements is true about mutations?
(A) ...
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Is transition more common than transversion during the evolution of duplicated genes?
Transitions are base mutations of purine to purine (A <-> G) or pyrimidine to pyrimidine (C <-> T). Transversions are purine to pyrimidine or vice versa (A <-> C, A <-> T, G <-> C, G &...
