What is the measure of mutation?

4 The mutation rate is usually expressed as a chance of mutations within one generation. People sometimes confuse the level of mutation with mutation frequency: The degree is the probability of mutation, while the frequency actually includes counting the number of organisms with a specific genetic mutation. However, the high mutation rate may be bad for individuals because many mutations are not beneficial. As a result, the high level of mutation would cause many individuals to die, while several have evolved to respond to environmental changes and maintain this species. As a result, the high rate is good for species as a whole, but it is not good for individual representatives. However, low rates may be bad for species because they make it difficult for organisms to adapt to favorable mutations that help the body respond to changes in the natural environment.

One of the classic examples of high mutation speed can be found in many bacteria and viruses. These orgThey consider the anism to be beneficial to mutate quickly because they reproduce in large numbers, so the loss of many individuals does not hurt the species as a whole. The high level of mutation also allows them to adapt to situations that may include the need to incubate for a longer period of time, or the introduction of new drugs that kill many individuals in this kind.

The high level of mutation can pose a serious problem when they occur in organisms that have a disease because it is difficult to eradate these organisms from the body. For example, HIV has an infamously high level of mutation, which allows him to constantly avoid new drugs introduced in the fight against it.

In addition to impact on the development of the species over time, the mutation rate can also be used to collect information on the history of the species. Scientists have monitored specific changes to determine when the organisms are genetically different, and use mutations similarly to the clock. Returning mutations over time using data on the level of mutation of the body can estimate when two related species wouldY could be the same species, or genetic research can find a common predecessor.