AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -They lead to new versions of proteins that help organisms adapt to changes in their environment. Beneficial mutations are essential for evolution to occur. They increase an organism’s changes of surviving or reproducing, so they are likely to become more common over time.

Detailed explanation-2: -Mutation is important as the first step of evolution because it creates a new DNA sequence for a particular gene, creating a new allele. Recombination also can create a new DNA sequence (a new allele) for a specific gene through intragenic recombination.

Detailed explanation-3: -Genetic variations can arise from gene variants (also called mutations) or from a normal process in which genetic material is rearranged as a cell is getting ready to divide (known as genetic recombination). Genetic variations that alter gene activity or protein function can introduce different traits in an organism.

Detailed explanation-4: -Changes in how cells work can sometimes improve the proteins that your cells produce and allow them to adapt to changes in your environment. An example of a positive genetic mutation is one that can protect a person from acquiring heart disease or diabetes, even with a history of smoking or being overweight.

Detailed explanation-5: -Mutations are one of the fundamental forces of evolution because they fuel the variability in populations and thus enable evolutionary change.