What Causes Gene Mutations?
What Causes Gene Mutations? Tuesday July 28, 2009 #spacer{clear:left}#abc #sidebar{margin-top:1.5em}zSB(3,3) Not surprisingly, scientists studying the human genome are finding that certain regions of our genes show more variety than others. Part of the reason for this is the rate of mutation in these regions, as our genomes replicate from one generation to the next. The processes of evolution and natural selection depend upon some degree of mutation. Generally, mutation rates in mammalian cells (including human) are predominantly dependant upon three factors: • Stability of nucleotides and susceptibility to mutagenic agents • Fidelity of DNA replication machinery (for example DNA polymerases) • Efficiency of DNA repair systems within our cells An example of the intrinsic susceptibility is the CpG pairing phenomenon. Called a neighbor-dependent muta
