The Atacama Desert, a 1000km stretch of parched wasteland, separates it from Peru to the north. And to the west, only a few islands dotted in the Pacific Ocean break the waves that roll onto Chileâs coast from Australasia.
What is a mutation? A mutation is a change that occurs in our DNA sequence, either due to mistakes when the DNA is copied or as the result of environmental factors such as UV light and cigarette smoke.
Mutation. As discussed in the introduction, mutations are changes in the genetic code that lead to different traits arising. These mutations can be passed down genetically and either be lost or become fixed. Since mutation usually affects a single individual in a population, the initial fraction is small and the probability of fixation is thus also small (high probability of loss).