| 释义 |
mutant, n. and a. Biol.|ˈmjuːtənt|
[ad. L. mutant-em pr. pple. of mūtāre (see mutate v.).]
A. n. An individual (or, formerly, a species or form) which has arisen by or undergone mutation, or which carries a mutant gene (in Science Fiction, usu. an individual with freak or grossly abnormal anatomy, abilities, etc.); also, a mutant gene.
1901Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 848 Two genera of Conifers which are in a period of spontaneous generation, a period in which they do form mutants, to use the terminology of de Vries, which mutants may be true to seed. 1919T. H. Morgan Physical Basis Heredity xx. 249 Of the twelve dominant mutants that have appeared in Drosophila each appeared at first in a single individual. 1919Jrnl. Exper. Zool. XXVIII. 363 By aid of these two dominants it is very easy to determine in a single experiment whether a given mutant is in the second or third chromosome. 1929Encycl. Brit. VI. 947/1 There is a mutant or sport of the fruit fly with black coloration of the body. 1930R. A. Fisher Genetical Theory Nat. Select. i. 13 Under the blending theory of inheritance, every individual was regarded as a mutant. 1954‘J. Christopher’ 22nd Century 140 You really can produce a breed of telepathic mutants that will supplant us? 1955‘J. Wyndham’ Chrysalids ii. 21 The nearest approach to decoration was a number of wooden panels with sayings..burnt into them... Blessed is the norm, and... Watch thou for the mutant! 1962[see hypomorph s.v. hypo- II]. 1969Nature 18 Oct. 272/1 (heading) Vitamin K-deficient mutants of bacteria. 1974Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XII. 756/1 Better strains of Penicillium and other industrial fungi..have been raised from artificially produced mutants.
fig.1971Time 7 June 7/1 An ominous new mutant of the American tragedy in Viet Nam... The troops who became addicted to heroin while serving in SE Asia.
B. adj. Having the attributes of a mutant; produced by mutation.
1903Amer. Naturalist XXXVII. 740 The form, habit and behavior of some of the mutant forms discovered by de Vries seventeen years ago. 1928Genetics XIII. 389 In this work two mutant characters have been studied. Ibid. 392 The sex-ratio in the mutant stock is normal. 1930R. A. Fisher Genetical Theory Nat. Select. i. 11 In domestication..the rigour of Natural Selection [is] relaxed so that mutant types can survive. 1955Bull. Atomic Sci. June 215/3 There is evidence that a mutant gene frequently does produce some disability of the individual who carries it. 1973Nature 9 Feb. 368/2 Mutant cells resistant to particular drugs..are being routinely used today by somatic cell geneticists. |