What term describes any event that changes genetic structure or an alteration in the inherited nucleic acid sequence?

What term describes any event that changes genetic structure or an alteration in the inherited nucleic acid sequence?

• A. Geographical Isolation
• B. Artificial Selection
• C. Gene Mutation
• D. Homozygous

Answer: (C)

The idea being tested is that a mutation is a change in the DNA sequence that can be passed on to offspring. A gene mutation specifically refers to a change in the nucleotide sequence within a gene, which can alter the gene’s function and is inherited in the germ line. This directly matches the description of an alteration in the inherited nucleic acid sequence. By contrast, geographical isolation is about a physical barrier that can lead to speciation over time but doesn’t describe a change in the DNA sequence itself; artificial selection changes which traits are common without describing a sequence-level change; and homozygous describes a genotype with two identical alleles, not an event that alters genetic material.

The idea being tested is that a mutation is a change in the DNA sequence that can be passed on to offspring. A gene mutation specifically refers to a change in the nucleotide sequence within a gene, which can alter the gene’s function and is inherited in the germ line. This directly matches the description of an alteration in the inherited nucleic acid sequence. By contrast, geographical isolation is about a physical barrier that can lead to speciation over time but doesn’t describe a change in the DNA sequence itself; artificial selection changes which traits are common without describing a sequence-level change; and homozygous describes a genotype with two identical alleles, not an event that alters genetic material.