{"entity":{"id":"mutation","kind":"term","name":"Mutation","aka":["mutations","mutated","mutant","mutants","genetic mutation","point mutation","point mutations","variant","variants","genetic alteration","genetic alterations","alteration","alterations"],"tldr":"A change in the DNA sequence, like a typo in a recipe. Most are harmless; a few change a protein in a way that helps a cell grow out of control.","summary":"Mutations range from single-letter substitutions to insertions, deletions, and rearrangements of whole chromosome segments. They arise from copying errors, damage by chemicals or radiation, or faulty repair, and accumulate with age; a typical adult tumour carries thousands, of which only a handful actually drive the cancer. Clinically, a mutation is named by the gene and the change (EGFR L858R, KRAS G12C, BRAF V600E), and a growing number of drugs are approved specifically for tumours carrying one of them.","asOf":"2026-09-09","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation"}],"tags":[],"related":["dna-term","gene","driver-mutation","germline-vs-somatic","tmb","mutational-signature","vus"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Biology basics"},"route":"/terms/mutation/","neighbours":{"term":[{"id":"cell-division","kind":"term","name":"Cell division","route":"/terms/cell-division/"},{"id":"deletion","kind":"term","name":"Deletion","route":"/terms/deletion/"},{"id":"dna-term","kind":"term","name":"DNA","route":"/terms/dna-term/"},{"id":"driver-mutation","kind":"term","name":"Driver mutation","route":"/terms/driver-mutation/"},{"id":"gene","kind":"term","name":"Gene","route":"/terms/gene/"},{"id":"genomic-profiling","kind":"term","name":"Genomic profiling","route":"/terms/genomic-profiling/"},{"id":"germline-vs-somatic","kind":"term","name":"Germline vs somatic mutations","route":"/terms/germline-vs-somatic/"},{"id":"mutational-signature","kind":"term","name":"Mutational signature","route":"/terms/mutational-signature/"},{"id":"somatic-mutation-theory","kind":"term","name":"Somatic mutation theory of cancer","route":"/terms/somatic-mutation-theory/"},{"id":"tmb","kind":"term","name":"Tumour mutational burden (TMB)","route":"/terms/tmb/"},{"id":"vus","kind":"term","name":"Variant of uncertain significance (VUS)","route":"/terms/vus/"}]}}