genetic mutation
- noun
- /dʒəˈnɛtɪk mjuˈteɪʃən/
- Specialized
- For example, some people with genetic mutations will always be obese, regardless of how much they exercise or control their energy intake.
- genetic mutation caused
- random genetic mutation
- rare genetic mutation
I know that some people have genetic mutations that affect clotting.
- I know that some people have genetic mutations that affect clotting.
- And I think it unless you have a genetic mutation, right?
Examples
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Many genetic mutations can affect how an organism grows and develops over time.
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Women with a strong family history of breast cancer, for instance, are faced with the prospect of learning, through testing, that they inherited a genetic mutation that poses an 80 percent lifetime risk of the disease.
Academic text (1998) -
Thirty years ago, cancer was thought to begin with a single genetic mutation.
Blog text (13) -
They wanted to take me and study my genetic mutation.
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Human populations have grown exponentially, and new genetic mutations arise with each generation.
Blog text (14) -
Your condition's congenital; the genetic mutations occurred in utero.
Fiction book (1998) -
Dr. Wang and his lab isolated the genetic mutation by studying a single family with inherited heart disease.
Blog text (22) -
People with a certain genetic mutation are predestined to develop early-onset Alzheimer's.
Blog text (19) -
The researchers found a genetic mutation that can increase the risk of developing certain diseases.
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Some inherited genetic mutations are known to cause inherited cancer syndromes in families.
Synonyms
A permanent change in DNA that can cause new traits
A permanent change in a gene that parents can pass to children
How Harmful
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is transparently composed from 'genetic' (relating to genes) and 'mutation' (a change in DNA); together they straightforwardly denote a change in genes. This is a literal, cross-linguistically common scientific collocation, so a learner who knows both words can reliably infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The noun genetic mutation is like a small change in a tiny instruction book made of DNA. Imagine one 'letter' in a gene is changed; that small change can affect how a body works or cause disease, so the term means a lasting change in DNA that can affect a person's traits.