How We KnowAnswer
Can Plants Sense a Caterpillar Chewing?
A caterpillar’s bite makes a leaf vibrate. In a lab experiment, those tiny movements changed how the plant responded to later feeding.
THE QUESTION LIBRARY THE QUESTION LIBRARY
Are mutations always harmful, or can they help?
THE SHORT ANSWER
Some DNA changes help, some harm, and others make little difference. Their effects depend on conditions.
WHERE THE EVIDENCE STANDS
How sure are we?
- Mutations can help, harm or make little difference.
- DNA changes occur at unequal rates.
- Proton tunnelling contributes substantially to mutations in living cells.
No. A mutation is a change in DNA, and its effect can be helpful, harmful or neutral. Neutral means it makes no meaningful difference to survival and reproduction in the conditions being considered.
THE LONG ANSWER
THE LONG ANSWER · ABOUT 2 MINUTES
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God Plays Dice answers big questions in plain words, with sources and one of six honest labels.
Sources & further reading
(4)
- The Fitness Effects of Spontaneous Mutations Nearly Unseen by Selection in a Bacterium with Multiple Chromosomes ↗Dillon and Cooper, Genetics 204:1225–1238 (2016)Results; Discussion.
- Timing, rates and spectra of human germline mutation ↗Rahbari and colleagues, Nature Genetics 48:126–133 (2016)Germline mutational spectra.
- An open quantum systems approach to proton tunnelling in DNA ↗Slocombe, Sacchi and Al-Khalili, Communications Physics 5:109 (2022)Pages 2, 5.
- Mismatch Repair Balances Leading and Lagging Strand DNA Replication Fidelity ↗Lujan and colleagues, PLOS Genetics 8:e1003016 (2012)Figure 3; Discussion.
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CONTINUE THE THREAD
Where this question leads.
The UniverseAnswer
Can a Planet Orbit Two Stars?
Two stars can circle each other while a planet travels around them both. Astronomers confirmed it by watching the moving stars dim.
Mind & MortalityAnswer
Why Does My Voice Sound Different on a Recording?
You can recognize every word and still be surprised by the speaker. While you talk, your voice reaches you by two routes.