EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -If a parent carries a gene mutation in their egg or sperm, it can pass to their child. These hereditary (or inherited) mutations are in almost every cell of the person’s body throughout their life. Hereditary mutations include cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, and sickle cell disease.

Detailed explanation-2: -Gene variants, including mutations, can be either inherited or acquired. An inherited gene mutation, as the name implies, is inherited from a parent, so it’s present in the very first cell (once the egg cell is fertilized by a sperm cell) that eventually becomes a person.

Detailed explanation-3: -A mutation is a change in the DNA sequence of an organism. Mutations can result from errors in DNA replication during cell division, exposure to mutagens or a viral infection.

Detailed explanation-4: -Mutation is a sudden, heritable change that takes place in DNA or RNA. The structure of a gene is changed at the nucleotide level and this change becomes heritable i.e. can be transmitted from one generation to another generation.

Detailed explanation-5: -Some mutations are hereditary because they are passed down to an offspring from a parent carrying a mutation through the germ line, meaning through an egg or sperm cell carrying the mutation. There are also nonhereditary mutations that occur in cells outside of the germ line, which are called somatic mutations.