mutationaladj.
/mjuːˈteɪʃn̩(ə)l/, /mjuːˈteɪʃən(ə)l/, U.S. /mjuˈteɪʃən(ə)l/, /mjuˈteɪʃn(ə)l/ Biology.
Of or relating to mutation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > [adjective] > changes or actions of genes or chromosomes > mutation
sportive1796
mutating1877
mutant1903
mutational1904
mutated1919
macromutational1952
saltational1963
macromutationist1988
1904 Nature 25 Feb. 386/2 De Vries's ‘mutational’ variations.
1931 E. B. Ford Mendelism & Evol. iv. 72 This criticism omits all reference to an important condition of the theory: the size of the mutational steps involved.
1955 Bull. Atomic Scientists June 210/2 No exposure [to radiation] is so tiny that it does not carry its corresponding mutational risk.
1964 G. H. Haggis et al. Introd. Molecular Biol. p. xi Recent refinements in genetic analysis..have made it possible to relate mutational events to modification of nucleic acid structure.
1989 B. Alberts et al. Molecular Biol. Cell (ed. 2) ix. 510 Mutational analyses have allowed geneticists to estimate that Drosophila contains only about 5000 essential genes.
1995 L. Garrett Coming Plague (new ed.) xvi. 567 He thought that ultraviolet radiation might be hastening the mutational pace.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1904