Does mutation affect the organism and its surroundings?
Introduction:
What is a mutation? How does mutation occur? Why do
organisms get mutated? Can we treat mutation? Will we get enough rights if we
are mutated?
These are some of the many queries, which are
asked by people. These people don’t stop until and unless they get the answer
to their question, and I guess that their luck is shining bright today as all
of their questions will be answered today through this writing.
To start with, let us know the meaning
of the word ‘Mutation’. Online Cambridge dictionary (2019) refers to mutation
as “the way in which genes change and produce permanent differences”. In
simpler words, it is “a permanent change in an organism, or the changed
organism itself”.
Description:
Any mutated organism is called a ‘Mutant’.
Cambridge also says that a mutant is “an organism that is different from others
of its type because of a permanent change in its genes”.
In the present era, mutants are going through a lot
of hardships. They are secluded from the ‘normal’ society and are being
discriminated against by other humans. They also lack some rights in a few of
the 195 countries. People treat mutants, as though they are inferior to them,
and they make them feel like they are very different from them. Now many
mutants have gone into depression.
Causes:
Mutation can occur in any living organism; it
can be a plant, or an animal, or also a human. The threat of mutation befalls on
an organism when it’s original DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is changed or
deleted by one of the following:
1.
Error when the DNA is being replicated.
2.
The DNA can get deleted while it is being replicated
from the parents to the offspring.
3.
If the person is exposed to a lot of chemicals, and
radiation for a long period, the DNA of the person can get altered or get
damaged.
If we sum up all the causes, then we can say that a mutation occurs when a DNA is altered by the means of deletion, insertion,
transition or transversion.
Consequences:
Mostly the mutation affects the organism’s health and
development. The diseases caused by mutation are called ‘Genetic Disorder’.
Base substitution mutation causes a genetic disorder called ‘sickle-cell
disease’. Other mutations also cause ‘Cystic fibrosis’. Mutation in an organism:
- Prevents
an embryo from surviving until its birth.
- Cause
protein in our body to malfunction or to disappear.
- Can
also, cause discrimination amongst people and the materialistic society.
- Can
kill an organism.
- Can
reduce the population of the country.
Going into depression are the people who are the
target of mutation. They feel like they are not a part of our society. In some
crucial cases, people suicide. Thus our world population reduces.
Although in some cases mutation can be a great help. A
young woman in Scotland has been mutated, and the mutation causes her to feel
virtually no pain. She feels very little anxiety and has enhanced wound healing
in her due to the mutation. The research team is still working with her to
invent new medicines for everyone to have this capability of healing very
quickly. Imagine a world without pain. Amazing, right?
Global Perspective:
Collins
dictionary (2019) states that mutagen is “a
substance or agent that
can induce genetic mutation”. Mutagen can also be some type of radiation too. The
examples of mutagens are:
1) Ultraviolet rays
2) Gamma radiation
3) Free radicals
4)
Base analog chemicals
In an online BBJR article (2017) the organization, WHO stated that it has requested “all the countries to update
their data and reports on CF cases”.
Many countries had not taken any action for this mutation, so WHO is persuading
them to keep records and to consider these mutations too. WHO also hopes that
the countries take some action to prevent these mutations within a couple of
years and WHO is doing all in its power to prevent further mutations across the
globe.
National Perspective:
In
the same article, (BBJR 2017 article), WHO also mentions that it has given nil
financial support or sponsorship to any country. So for instance, if it is a very poor country, like some parts of Africa, then even though it wants to
eradicate mutation, it can’t, as it doesn’t have the money to do it. There are
many other factors that affect the way the countries react to this request
(mentioned in global perspective); “civil war,
poverty, malnutrition, and outbreaks of infectious diseases such as
tuberculosis” and many more.
The websites- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15767750 and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5333734/ state that there is a lot of “genetic diversity among the Arabs” and
many mutations in the “Mediterranean basin, throughout the Middle East, The Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Melanesia in to the Pacific Islands”.
Source Evaluation:
All
the websites which I used are trustworthy. Some websites are biased but the
others are equally convincing. I have taken my information from non-biased government
websites also. In the beginning, I was against mutated people, but after
reading all these websites, especially https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/testing/discrimination, I came to know, that mutants are also like other people
(sometimes better) who had mishaps in their lives and ended up to be mutated. I
also realized that mutations need not always be a drawback. Sometimes, for
people, the mutation is an asset. That’s how my perspective changed.
The course of Action:
We
should stop genetic discrimination and consider them as our equal. They deserve
enough rights as we do too. The government and the research team can work with
mutants and devise some medicines and vaccines to cure and prevent further
mutations in the future. The government should also consider these issues
related to mutations in all countries.
Conclusion:
So my conclusion is that mutation does affect
the organism and its surroundings (the society) and it can be a good effect or
a bad effect. Searching information about this has just made my perspective
stronger and has made my belief of respecting and preventing mutation much
stronger.
References:
·
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/mutation
·
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/mutagen
·
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190327203450.htm
·
http://www2.csudh.edu/nsturm/CHEMXL153/DNAMutationRepair.htm
·
https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/mutationsanddisorders/mutationscausedisease
·
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5333734/
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