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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: average joe who wrote (9689)	3/26/2001 11:52:57 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

I have no expertise in this area, but this is what the Britannica says: Mutations in humans and in other animals that reproduce sexually can be divided into two types: somatic and germinal. Somatic mutations occur in body cells (as opposed to sex cells). Such mutations can produce a localized change--e.g., the streak of white (albino) sometimes found in the hair of an otherwise normal individual. All the cells descendant from the mutant body cell will carry the mutation, but it cannot be passed on to offspring. Germinal mutations, however, affect the sex cells (eggs or sperm) and can be transmitted to the individual's offspring. When germinal mutations alter an organism, the effect is usually harmful. Many genetic diseases are the result of such mutations. Harmful genes eventually may be eliminated from a population if they impair the carriers' ability to reproduce at the same rate as their fellows. A mutation will rarely produce a beneficial change. When this does occur, the percentage of organisms with this gene will increase until the mutated gene becomes the norm in the population. In this way, beneficial mutations serve as the raw material of evolution. To summarize: most mutations are either not heritable, or are harmful, but there are some which are both beneficial and heritable. Whether this has been observed, or is theorized, they do not say. britannica.com