Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Note on Genetic Symbols
- 1 Overview of Genetic Organization and Scale
- 2 Mitosis and Meiosis
- 3 Nucleic Acids: DNA and RNA
- 4 Basic Mendelian Genetics
- 5 Probability and Chi-Square
- 6 Sex-Linkage and Gene Interactions
- 7 Pedigree Analysis
- 8 Overview of Basic Statistical Testing
- 9 Quantitative Inheritance
- 10 Overview of Genetic Mapping
- 11 Assessing Chromosome Linkage Relationships
- 12 Linkage and Mapping in Diploids
- 13 Mapping in Bacteria and Viruses
- 14 Overview of Types of Genetic Change
- 15 Gene Mutation
- 16 Changes in Chromosome Number and Structure
- 17 Protein Synthesis and the Genetic Code
- 18 Gene Regulation and Development
- 19 Overview of Molecular Biology Techniques
- 20 DNA Mapping and Human Genome Analysis
- 21 Basic Population Genetics
- 22 Selection and Evolution
- 23 Practice Tests
- 24 Answers to Practice Tests and Crossword Puzzles
- 25 Landmarks in the History of Genetics
- Glossary
- Reference Tables
15 - Gene Mutation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Note on Genetic Symbols
- 1 Overview of Genetic Organization and Scale
- 2 Mitosis and Meiosis
- 3 Nucleic Acids: DNA and RNA
- 4 Basic Mendelian Genetics
- 5 Probability and Chi-Square
- 6 Sex-Linkage and Gene Interactions
- 7 Pedigree Analysis
- 8 Overview of Basic Statistical Testing
- 9 Quantitative Inheritance
- 10 Overview of Genetic Mapping
- 11 Assessing Chromosome Linkage Relationships
- 12 Linkage and Mapping in Diploids
- 13 Mapping in Bacteria and Viruses
- 14 Overview of Types of Genetic Change
- 15 Gene Mutation
- 16 Changes in Chromosome Number and Structure
- 17 Protein Synthesis and the Genetic Code
- 18 Gene Regulation and Development
- 19 Overview of Molecular Biology Techniques
- 20 DNA Mapping and Human Genome Analysis
- 21 Basic Population Genetics
- 22 Selection and Evolution
- 23 Practice Tests
- 24 Answers to Practice Tests and Crossword Puzzles
- 25 Landmarks in the History of Genetics
- Glossary
- Reference Tables
Summary
STUDY HINTS
A large number of sensitive methods have been developed for measuring the rate of mutation and for isolating and characterizing the range of mutations that occur in all genomes. Novel characteristics of the genetics or the life cycles of many organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, Neurospora, or Drosophila, have been used to focus on different aspects of mutation. The giant polytene chromosomes of Drosophila, for example, have permitted fairly precise mapping of new mutations, using overlapping deletions. Variations in defined media have allowed specific nutritional mutations to be isolated in Neurospora and bacteria, and the relative simplicity of the genetic makeup of bacteria and viruses has been taken advantage of in defining the ways in which mutagenic agents may act upon the genome. The potentials offered by these and other experimental systems are described in your text.
Of particular interest is the genetic repair of DNA. The existence of repair enzymes is an important link to understanding the possible variations in the response of DNA to mutagenic agents. If a certain repair enzyme is defective, as in the human condition xeroderma pigmentosum, the genome is much more sensitive to the action of certain external agents (in this case, ultraviolet radiation). Indeed, variations in genetic repair systems may contribute in a significant way to variations in the responses of different individuals to environmental mutagens.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Primer of Genetic AnalysisA Problems Approach, pp. 136 - 141Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007