In this article we will discuss about the history and induction of mutations. History of Mutation: The sudden heritable changes in genes, other than those due to Mendelian segregation and recombination constitute mutations. The idea of mutation first originated from observations of a Dutch botanist Hugo de Vries (in the 1880's) on variations in plants of Oenothera lamarckiana (evening primrose) [...]
In this article we will discuss about the definition of gene families. While most prokaryotic genes are represented only once in the genome, some genes in eukaryotes are repeated many times in multiple copies, called gene families, thus contributing to the large size of the genome. In specific cases, multiple copies of a gene are necessary to produce RNAs or [...]
Four major forces are usually listed for changing gene frequencies in populations, namely migration, mutation, selection and random genetic drift. These forces constitute the mechanisms underlying the evolutionary process. 1. Migration: Migration occurs when a large influx of people moves into another population and interbreeds with the latter. The phenomenon called gene flow takes place if one population contributes an [...]