(evolutionary genetics) The process by which the genomes of an asexual population accumulate deleterious mutations in an irreversible manner; proposed as a theory to explain the evolution of sex.
(genetics) The process by which a small population accumulates harmful mutations, which leads to loss of fitness and decline of the population size, which may lead to further accumulation of deleterious mutations due to fixation by genetic drift.
(genetics) A mutation that involves the replacement, addition or deletion of a small number of bases (especially just one) at a specific site within a gene.
A nucleotide sequence variation that is not enough to be classed as a mutation (for example, does not affect protein expression enough to produce clinical symptoms) but nonetheless represents an unusual variant that is predisposed to still greater variation in future cell divisions (that is, predisposed to leading to a mutation).
(genetic engineering) A proposed kind of modified seed whose use would be restricted by having important genes activated only in response to some stimulus (such as a special chemical), and which would otherwise produce infertile second-generation seeds.
(genetics) Not expressed to the usual or expected degree
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