Talk:Mutation

At several points, the article uses the term "novel mutation" to talk about new mutations, as opposed to inherited ones. The National Cancer Institute defines the term "novel mutation" as one that as been previously undiscovered/unreported, and scientific literature uses the term as such, while "new" or "de novo" mutations to refer to a mutation present in an organism that was not present in the parent. (Apologies for the drive-by flagging.) ^[1] 199.217.4.94 (talk) 19:02, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

“By effect on protein sequence” mentions frameshift, nonsense, missense, neutral, and silent mutations, which were discussed in “By effect on structure.” Can these sections be combined?

"Replication timing quantitative trait loci affects DNA replication" does not mention how DNA replication is affected.

• A good source found on the rtQTL Wikipedia page, relating to mutation types based on replication timing. ^[1]

The final paragraph of the “Beneficial mutations” section lists sickle-cell disease as an example of a harmful mutation. I believe sickle-cell disease should be discussed in “Harmful mutations,” while the sickle-cell trait should be covered in “Beneficial mutations.”

Finally, I believe there needs to be more information related to how mutations are located and fixed within organisms. I.e., Photoreactivation repair, base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, etc.

JJCim (talk) 22:25, 29 March 2017 (UTC)

These two subsections were a complete mess, full of duplications and contradictions, and it was not clear how the content was divided between them. I have substantially revised their organization and nested the classifications in a way that I believe is more logical. Ted.tem.parker (talk) 03:30, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

I like how the article is organized. It covers many aspects related to mutation, so if anyone does not have an idea about mutation he is going to find all the sources. Another great thing about the article is that it describes a different kind of mutation, the causes and it provides links to other articles which would be helpful to the reader, also the article is well resourced.Halhamdan (talk) 20:13, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

  Overall, this article is organized well and easy to read and follow. It breaks down the general idea and baseline regarding mutations in genetics, while also providing further evidence that the reader can access on their own that goes into more detail regarding certain mutations. The article also contains multiple peer-reviewed sources, which lets the reader know that the details provided in the article are able to be backed-up or referenced. Heavenly Bronk <>  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hbronk (talk • contribs) 22:12, 8 February 2026 (UTC)

This is a currently really long section, with following subheadings:

3.1 By effect on structure (3.1.1 Small-scale mutations 3.1.2 Large-scale mutations) 3.2 By effect on function 3.3 By effect on fitness (3.3.1 Distribution of fitness effects) 3.4 By impact on protein sequence 3.5 By inheritance 3.6 Special classes 3.7 Nomenclature

Would it make sense to rearrange this into multiple sections? I think many of these are of more than enough importance to warrant it. HFHah (talk) 14:53, 22 April 2020 (UTC)

"In December 2017, the U.S. government lifted a temporary ban implemented in 2014 that banned federal funding for any new "gain-of-function" experiments that enhance pathogens "such as Avian influenza, SARS and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS viruses."[47]"

This sentence from the paragraph on gain-of-function mutations is pretty obviously superfluous and intended to push some kind of political agenda. It should be removed. 2001:569:BD89:A00:1CB9:93A9:8DB7:FC21 (talk) 05:34, 4 May 2020 (UTC)

I believe somatic mutation warrants spin off into its own article. See Draft:Somatic mutation

Some reasons in favor of spin-off:

• Somatic mutations have important and distinct traits/effects/roles from germline mutations and mutations as a whole.
• Mutation is already a long article.
• some evidence of notability: plug "somatic mutation" into google scholar and you get a whole lot of journal articles back - topics include: cancers (#1 by far), other diseases, mitochondrial mutations, healthy cell mutations.

These distinct issues include:

• Rates of mutation [compared to germline, comparison between different somatic tissues, causes of different rates at molecular and evolutionary scale]
• instances of inheritance (e.g. in plants, in some animals)
• role in immune function (somatic hypermutation)
• how many cells a mutation affects (e.g. did it occur early in development? did it occur in a post-mitotic cell or in a rapidly dividing cell?); general somatic mosaicism of tissues (especially somatic brain mosaicism).
• accumulation of mutations: role in disease (well studied: cancer, maybe: neurodegenerative diseases), as potential cause of aging.
• techniques used in research, e.g. single cell sequencing.

Downsides: Many of these topics have mention in other articles [in varying amounts of detail]; some could use further elaboration. Benefits to gathering information in one place to understand overarching role of somatic mutation?

HFHah (talk) 19:06, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

The draft looks OK to me, I see no issue with it being a separate article, the topic is notable enough. Splitting the article is fine, and not necessary to merge. Hzh (talk) 11:08, 14 September 2020 (UTC)]

If it is done, do we need the template anymore? Andrew Z. Colvin • Talk 19:23, 19 December 2020 (UTC)

A Wikipedia article about "gain-of-function" experiments, especially as regards viruses, is needed. The coverage in this article (which redirects from Gain of function) does not properly explain how such experiments are done, or for what purpose. Do any of the editors of this page have the knowledge and expertise to do this? 173.88.246.138 (talk) 21:38, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

Unfortunately, editorship is much lower than it used to be so if you have the expertise, consider writing an article or adding a section about the topic. Be sure to cite everything. If you need help, reach out! Andrew Z. Colvin • Talk 20:49, 19 January 2021 (UTC)

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 22 August 2022 and 9 December 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): AndrewDunham14, BurgulaNiharika (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by AndrewDunham14 (talk) 01:06, 10 October 2022 (UTC)

A list of things to do, following up on the review below Dabs (talk) 08:55, 10 March 2023 (UTC)

• [ ] gather all info on types (subst, microindel, ins, del, duplication, etc) into one section after the Overview. This will be the main section of the article
• [ ] integrate links to mechanisms and types of mutations described in more detail elsewhere
  • Gene duplication
  • Deletion_(genetics)
  • Chromosomal_translocation
  • Transposable_element
  • see links under Chromosome_abnormality
  • Microsatellite#Mutation_mechanisms_and_mutation_rates
  • Mutational signatures
• [ ] add well documented examples of disease-causing mutations
• [ ] add well documented examples of evolutionarily important mutations
• [ ] add well documented examples of beneficial mutations in humans (e.g., HIV resistance) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dabs (talk • contribs) 09:05, 10 March 2023 (UTC)
• [X] delete redundant list of types (missense, nonsense, etc) under By Inheritance
• [X] delete off-topic history section
• [X] remove Darwin
• [X] remove comment about gain-of-function research ban

Below is my review of this article. I will make a list of major and minor suggestions and get to work on those presently Dabs (talk) 15:32, 9 March 2023 (UTC)

I am removing a few distracting and jargony asides from the intro paragraph. I would like the intro paragraph to explain as simply as possible what a mutation is, without needless detail. If others want to add back this content, please consider the layman and consider placing the content below in the body of the article where the details belong.

• "Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA." - removed
• "DNA or viral replication" -> "replication"
• "or other types of damage to DNA (such as pyrimidine dimers caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation), which" -> "or damage to DNA, which"
• "which then may undergo error-prone repair (especially microhomology-mediated end joining),^[1] cause an error during other forms of repair,^[2][3] or cause" -> "which then may trigger error-prone repair^[4] or cause"

Tarcil (talk) 21:56, 22 January 2026 (UTC)