mutate

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to undergo a change in genetic material or another heritable biological change

   Some genes mutate more readily when cells are exposed to ionizing radiation.

2. 2
   verb

   to cause a gene, cell, or organism to undergo mutation

   A sufficiently large dose can mutate reproductive cells.

First recorded in the late eighteenth century as a back-formation from mutation, reinforced by the verb-forming suffix -ate. Mutation ultimately comes from Latin mutatio ("a changing"), from mutare ("to change or exchange").

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