In other words, mutations occur randomly with respect to whether their effects are useful. Thus, beneficial DNA changes do not happen more often simply because an organism could benefit from them.

This DNA has suffered a mutation, either through mis-copying (when its parent cell divided), or through the damaging effects of exposure to radiation or a chemical carcinogen.

As opposed to gene-level mutations, mutations that alter longer stretches of DNA (ranging from multiple genes up to entire chromosomes) are called chromosomal mutations. These mutations often have ...

A new study draws a line between random genetic mutations and predictable epigenetic changes used to measure biological aging ...

Only around two percent of the human genome codes for proteins, and while those proteins carry out many important functions ...

Scientists discovered that DNA mutations influence aging by altering epigenetic changes and biological clocks.

Scientists have created a mega-database revealing how half a million different DNA mutations generate errors in proteins in humans. The researchers hope that the database will be used to develop ...

Mutations occur continuously and can be spontaneous. Most are caused by errors when the DNA is copied prior to cell division. They can also happen because of: ionising radiation close ionising ...

In a lab at Rockefeller University in New York, a mouse squeaks. But this is no ordinary squeak. It is a strange, complex ...

The genetic code is nearly universal across all living organisms, with only minor variations in some species. DNA mutations are changes in the nucleotide sequence of the DNA molecule. Mutations can ...

A genetic mutation found in two human patients with schizophrenia also increased schizophrenia-related behaviors in mice with ...