PATHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Mutations can be inherited only when they affect the reproductive cells (sperm or egg). Mutations that do not affect reproductive cells affect the descendants of the mutated cell (for example, becoming a cancer) but are not passed on to offspring.

Detailed explanation-2: -Do Parents Pass Gene Mutations to Children? 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.

Detailed explanation-3: -Germ-line mutations occur in reproductive cells (sperm or eggs) and are passed to an organism’s offspring during sexual reproduction. Somatic mutations occur in non-reproductive cells; they are passed to daughter cells during mitosis but not to offspring during sexual reproduction.

Detailed explanation-4: -A gene change in a body’s reproductive cell (egg or sperm) that becomes incorporated into the DNA of every cell in the body of the offspring. Germline mutations are passed on from parents to offspring. Also called germline variant.

Detailed explanation-5: -DNA mutations in somatic cells can affect an individual, but they cannot be passed on to their offspring.