what are these things that cause the damage?
It is a physical or chemical agent that changes the genetic material, usually DNA, of an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level.
Mutagen
In genetics, a mutagen is a physical or chemical agent that changes the genetic material, usually DNA, of an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level.
what is the definition of the term gene It is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA or RNA that encodes the synthesis of a gene product, either RNA or protein. when was the aforementioned former term discovered? 1869 by whom? Friedrich Miescher who was he ? He was a Swiss physician and biologist. did he have any other contributions apart from this? UNANSWERABLE how can the structure that he discovered be defined? Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a molecule composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying genetic instruction. what are its features? They carry genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses. how does it get damaged? It can be damaged by many sorts of mutagens, which change the DNA sequence.
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Mutagen [SEP] Introduction
In genetics, a mutagen is a physical or chemical agent that changes the genetic material, usually DNA, of an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level. As many mutations can cause cancer, mutagens are therefore also likely to be carcinogens, although not always necessarily so. All mutagens have characteristic mutational signatures with some chemicals becoming mutagenic through cellular processes. Not all mutations are caused by mutagens: so-called "spontaneous mutations" occur due to spontaneous hydrolysis, errors in DNA replication, repair and recombination.