In other words, mutations occur randomly with respect to whether their effects are useful. Thus, beneficial DNA changes do not happen more often simply because an organism could benefit from them.

How could a "bad" gene-- the mutation that causes the sometimes lethal sickle cell disease -- also be beneficial? On the other hand, if it didn't provide some survival advantage, why had the ...

DNA contains genes that carry instructions for the manufacture of a protein. If a mutation occurs in a gene that results in a change to the sequence of DNA bases, then the structure of the protein ...

Recent breakthroughs in high-throughput mutation detection technologies, such as whole genome sequencing, have increased the efficiency of identifying the DNA changes that generate a new trait. With ...