What is a mutation and why are mutations important in evolution?

Answer 1

The main driving force of evolution is natural which are useful by killing off those who haven't got them.

That is how we evolve, in a nutshell. hola family!!!

Mutations are the source of those variations. No variations, no evolution.

Answer 2

Mutation causes an offspring of an organism to be slightly different from their parent. Sometimes an offspring with improved capabilities/survival instincts are born and weak offsprings are also born. Eventually the weak one dies without having a chance to reproduce, thus they go 'extinct'. The stronger ones survive, reproduce and they will be able to continue their strong generation.

Yes, that stronger generation can give birth to a weaker one because of the natural mutation. But the nature will take care of that weak offspring by killing them before they reproduce !

Ta-da.......

Answer 3

Mutations are not important to the well being of an organism, as organisms die. So , only sex cell, germ line beneficial mutations can be good for a population of organisms depending on many factors, not the least of these being the immediate environment. Mutations provide variation that natural selection can work on, but somatic mutations are lost with the organism carrying them. Only germ line mutations contribute to evolution.

Answer 4

Mutation is one of the key mechanisms introducing new alleles for natural selection to act upon.

Without mutation, there could have been no major changes in the genetic material of a creature, therefore evolution could not have occurred.

Answer: Mutation was postulated as a possible source of genetic variation to ennable natural selection to have material to work changes in organisms. This mechanism of variation was seen as vital to evolution from the time that the implications of genetics as discovered by Mendel was realised.

Unfortunately for evolution, there has never been discovered a single example of a mutation adding new genetic information (although occasionally mutations are beneficial, which is not always the same thing). Richard Dawkins was asked about this very issue in an interview and could not provide one single example of an information-adding mutation. This is no small problem for their is a staggering amount of new information necessary to be written into the DNA to change a microbe into a microbiologist (for example).

Actually mutations are universally shown to be causing genetic degradation in all multicellular life, In humans this is believed conservatively to amount to 100 new mutations per person per generation. Mostly these mutations are small such that natural selection does not 'see' them to eliminate them and so they accumulate in the genome of mankind like rust on a car. The rate of mutation which we observe today would lead to the extinction of the entire human race in a much shorter period of time than is commonly realised. This knowledge led one evolutionary geneticist to ask 'why are we not all dead already?'

According to geneticist Dr John Sandford, from Cornell University, there is close to unanimous agreement among geneticists regarding human genetic degradation, even though most continue to believe in evolution. Sandford cites recent papers by geneticists such as Muller, Noal, Kondrashov, Nachmann/Crowell, Walker/Keightley, Crow, Lynch et al, Howell, Loewe and Sandford himself (in print). Sandford highlights Loewe's contention in a paper published in 2010 (in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science) that there is a fitness decline of between 3-5% per generation. Sandford himself from his modeling believes it is not as dire. Another geneticist, Robert Carter, points out that the key issue is not that there are no beneficial mutations but that the deleterious ones are so subtle that they are not selected against, and so the net effect is downhill.

Answer 5

In order for natural selection to operate effectively, there have to be variations which can be selected, either for or against, depending upon their survival value. Mutation is a major source of variation. If every organism in a species is the same, then there is nothing to select.

Answer 6

Mutations are changes in the dna of an organism. Some mutations are good and may benefit the organism more then the rest of its species. When its beneficial, this organism is more likely to survive and pass on this trait to its offspring.

Answer: Mutations are important because they were postulated as a possible source of genetic variation to ennable natural selection to have material to work changes in organisms. This mechanism of variation was seen as vital to evolution from the time that the implications of genetics as discovered by Mendel was realised.

Unfortunately for evolution, there has never been discovered a single example of a mutation adding new genetic information (although occasionally mutations are beneficial, which is not always the same thing). Richard Dawkins was asked about this very issue in an interview and could not provide one single example of an information-adding mutation. This is no small problem for their is a staggering amount of new information necessary to be written into the DNA to change a microbe into a microbiologist (for example).

Actually mutations are universally shown to be causing genetic degradation in all multicellular life, In humans this is believed conservatively to amount to 100 new mutations per person per generation. Mostly these mutations are small such that natural selection does not 'see' them to eliminate them and so they accumulate in the genome of mankind like rust on a car. The rate of mutation which we observe today would lead to the extinction of the entire human race in a much shorter period of time than is commonly realised. This knowledge led one evolutionary geneticist to ask 'why are we not all dead already?'

According to geneticist Dr John Sandford, from Cornell University, there is close to unanimous agreement among geneticists regarding human genetic degradation, even though most continue to believe in evolution. Sandford cites recent papers by geneticists such as Muller, Noal, Kondrashov, Nachmann/Crowell, Walker/Keightley, Crow, Lynch et al, Howell, Loewe and Sandford himself (in print). Sandford highlights Loewe's contention in a paper published in 2010 (in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science) that there is a fitness decline of between 3-5% per generation. Sandford himself from his modeling believes it is not as dire. Another geneticist, Robert Carter, points out that the key issue is not that there are no beneficial mutations but that the deleterious ones are so subtle that they are not selected against, and so the net effect is downhill.

Answer 7

Mutations create diversity in the world and make everyone of us unique.

Answer 8

They provide the allele variation that natural selection selects from.