User:Sjgenetics/sandbox

In biology and especially genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is an alteration of the DNA sequence of a gene or chromosome of an organism. The natural occurrence of genetic mutations is integral to the process of evolution. The study of mutants is an integral part of biology; by understanding the effect that a mutation in a gene has, it is possible to establish the normal function of that gene.

One main type of mutant is conditional lethal mutant. Conditional lethal mutants are mutants that can grow in permissive conditions. Temperature sensitive mutants fall under this category and have a permissive temperature of 28°-31° for growth. A higher temperature would result in no growth or death.