What are mutants? These are living organisms, in the DNA of which certain changes have occurred, which made them unlike their counterparts. How do mutations or errors in DNA occur, what effects can they have, and how do they affect the body as a whole?
What are mutations?
Have you ever wondered why you have brown hair and blue eyes, and your brother is fair-haired and brown-eyed? This is due to DNA, the genetic code that comes from our parents. Sometimes mistakes are made in DNA when it is replicated or copied at the time of division of each cell. When this happens, the process can affect our appearance and even behavior.
The body’s DNA affects how it looks and behaves, its physiology. Changing DNA can cause metamorphoses in all aspects of life. We often think of mutations as something negative, but this is not always the case. These errors or changes in DNA are necessary for evolution. Without them, development could not have happened. Mutations are usually not good or bad, they are just different.
Mutations create several different versions of the same genetic information. They are called alleles. It is these differences that make each of us unique, creating variations in the color of hair, skin, growth, complexion, behavior and our ability to fight diseases.
Variations that help the body survive and multiply are passed on to the next generation. And those that inhibit the body’s ability to survive and multiply, lead to the body dropping out of the population - in other words, dying. This process, called natural selection, can lead to important changes in appearance, behavior and physiology in just a few generations.
Types of Mutations
There are many types of DNA errors. Mutations can be grouped into categories based on where exactly they occur.
- Somatic mutations (acquired) occur in non-reproductive cells. Usually they are not transmitted to offspring. However, they can change cell division.
- Germ line mutations occur in reproductive cells. Such mutations are transmitted to offspring. An example is albinism.
- Mutations can also be classified by the length of the nucleotide sequences that they affect. Mutations at the gene level are changes in short nucleotide lengths. They affect physical characteristics and are important for large-scale evolution. For example, insects become resistant to the effects of the DDT insecticide after repeated exposure.
- Chromosomal mutations are changes in the long lengths of nucleotides. This has serious consequences. An example is Down syndrome, where there are three copies of chromosome 21 instead of two. This significantly affects the person’s appearance, level of development and behavior.
What are mutants?
People often view mutations in a negative light. However, without mutations, we would not have rich color vision and other necessary features. Mutations are changes in your genetic code. DNA is genetic material used to encode certain physical characteristics. It is made of four different molecules called bases. These bases are represented by the letters A, T, C, and G. The complete human genetic code contains billions of bases! When these base sequences change, this is called a mutation.
Some mutations can cause such deleterious conditions as Down syndrome or Klenefelter syndrome. However, many mutations are benign, and some are irrelevant because they exist in areas of DNA that are not actively used. For example, blue eyes have arisen due to a change in the protein responsible for pigmentation of the eyes. This is one example of a benign mutation.
Sometimes, however, a mutation will occur that gives a person an advantage and is actually beneficial. Who are the mutants (see photo in the article)? In a sense, these are all living organisms.
Useful Mutation Example
Useful mutations can be found in nature. For example, our color vision. People have trichromatic vision, that is, we can distinguish three colors: red, green and blue. Many animals have dichromatic or monochromatic vision and are unable to perceive all colors. This ability to see multiple shades is probably the result of a beneficial mutation that occurred in our DNA several million years ago.
When you think of a mutant, do you remember science fiction films where mutated creatures become powerful and evil, and then try to destroy the world? What are mutations really? These are changes in the DNA sequence of a cell. When a mutation occurs in the coding sequence of a gene, the resulting protein changes.
Biological point of view
Who is a mutant in biology? For this science, as well as for genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic phenomenon resulting from a mutation, which is a change in the DNA sequence of a gene or chromosome of an organism. The natural occurrence of genetic mutations is an integral part of the evolutionary process. The study of mutants is an essential part of biology.
Mutants should not be confused with organisms born with developmental disabilities that are caused by errors in the process of morphogenesis. With anomalies in the development of the body's DNA, it remains unchanged, since a failure cannot be transmitted to offspring. Siamese twins are the result of developmental anomalies. This is not a mutation. Chemicals that cause developmental abnormalities are called teratogens. They can also cause mutations, but their influence on development is not directly related to the process. The chemicals that cause mutations are called mutagens.