evolution of species (mutation)

Question 1

what is the evolution of species?

Answer 1

evolution is the gradual change in organisms over a very long period of time

Question 2

what is a mutation?

Answer 2

a mutation is a random change to genetic material. this means the order of the bases in dna is different,

if the order of bases is different it can result in a chnage to the structure of the protien that the dna codes for

• different sequences of amino acids allow different proteins to be made

mutations are spontaneous and only source of new alleles

Question 3

what are the 3 possibie outcomes for how an organism is effected by mutation?

Answer 3

neutral - no effect
positive - survival advantage
negative - gains disadvantage less likely to survive

Question 5

what environmental factors can increase mutation?

Answer 5

radiation - uv from sunlight, x- rays

chemical - carcinogens (cigarettes) , processed foods, cosmetics and cleaning produts

Question 6

where does the variation come from?

Answer 6

spontaneous and random changes to dna codes in mutation lead to different versions of genes (alleles) spearing in populations. mutations are a new source of alleles

Question 7

what are alleles?

Answer 7

different versions of the same gene (eye color etc)

Question 8

what can new alleles produced by mutation result in?

Answer 8

can result in plants and animals becoming better adapted to thier environment

Question 9

why is variation important?

Answer 9

variation within a population allows it to evolve in repsone to changing environmental conditions (selection pressures)