mutation

What it means

1. countableuncountableAny alteration or change.
2. countableuncountablebiologyAny heritable change of the base-pair sequence of genetic material.

   2 more examples

   Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.

   2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 14 Aug 2013

   He added, in an email to CNN, that “the collection of increasingly large and well curated medical datasets has enabled AI tools to predict genetic mutations from imaging phenotypes reducing the burden of healthcare systems and improving the way we care for patients.” Phenotypes are observable characteristics.

   2019 January 8, Nina Avramova, “AI technology can identify genetic diseases by looking at your face, study says”, in CNN, archived from the original on 27 Nov 2022

3. countableuncountableA mutant.

In a sentence

He added, in an email to CNN, that “the collection of increasingly large and well curated medical datasets has enabled AI tools to predict genetic mutations from imaging phenotypes reducing the burden of healthcare systems and improving the way we care for patients.” Phenotypes are observable characteristics.

2019 January 8, Nina Avramova, “AI technology can identify genetic diseases by looking at your face, study says”, in CNN, archived from the original on 27 Nov 2022

Where it comes from

1. Old Frenchmutacion
2. Latinmūtātiō
3. Middle Englishmutacioun
4. Englishmutation

Late 14th century as Middle English mutacioun, from Latin mūtātiō, both directly and via Old French mutacion.