mu·ta·tion (myo͞o-tāˈshən)

1. The act or process of being altered or changed.
2. An alteration or change, as in nature, form, or quality.
3. A sudden structural change within a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not found in the parental type.
4. The process by which such a sudden structural change occurs, either through an alteration in the nucleotide sequence of the DNA coding for a gene or through a change in the physical arrangement of a chromosome.
5. A mutant.

Related Forms:

• mu·taˈtion·al adjective