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PART 1: mutation









Growing up we knew mutations as monsters and things like green globlins and giants. And i guess that is partially true, being incredibly over tall and not have the ability to stop growing is a mutation in some sense.









But in reality there is 3 different types of mutations: Neutral, Harmful, and Beneficial.









Definition: mutations are random changes in the DNA itself and they provide a continuous supply of new genetic information.









-Can be caused by environmental factors like chemicals or radiation, or when cells make copies of DNA or use that cell.









neutral mutation: has no effect on the organism. example: if your born with an extra thumb.




harmful mutation: reduces and organism's fitness ( reproductive success ). example: mutation in somatic cell and some mutations in this cell may cause cancer.





beneficial mutation: enhances and organism's fitness. example: spraying bed bugs used to kill them, but then a mutation occured within the bed bugs to make them immune to us spraying them.



PART 2: Sexual Reproduction.

definition: the production of offspring by the union of sex cells from two different parents; the offspring inherit a combination of genes from both parents.

- Every organism will vary from their parent and/or siblings. this is because of gene pool which is the genetic make up of each DNA in organisms of a certain population.
-Artificial selection is plant or animals that do specific breeding so that that individual will get certain characterists and genes that were desired. So if one of my parents had blue eyes and the other hazel with a blue eyed gene my parents can select that i have blue eyes. Or with dogs, people selectively choose dogs to reproduce together to create a certain mix of dog with desired characteristics.

Sources for certain examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation
Alberta 20-30 Nelson Biology textbook