Mutation

On many occasions, into body of this website, you come across the term MUTATION.  It refers to an aberration within a certain gene.  Genes are like a very long chain, consisting of many difference rings, different size, different color, etc.  However, the sequence of these rings on a specific gene is always the same.   It is the same in the same person, or same family or other people. We have hundreds of thousands of genes, each with a unique sequence. 

This sequence can undergo alterations or aberrations, in many different ways.  Once an alteration takes place, we call it mutation.  From that point on, the cells will produce the same kind of gene, with the new sequence, the Mutant Gene.

Imagine a long chain with thousands of rings on it.  How many alterations may take place on this chain? Possibilities are endless. Numerous mutations can take place on a single gene.  In familial cancers, normally same mutation is inherited and the afflicted members of the family have the same mutation.

Cancer Genetic issues