Mutation and the Tree of Life

     All organisms have DNA which is their genetic material that is used to make other molecules the body needs to function called amino acids. DNA is a ladder made of sugar molecules, phosphate molecules, and certain chemicals called bases. Certain bases will pair up when the ladder is formed- A pairs with T and C pairs with G. During the process used to replicate DNA, mutations can occur which are mistakes or changes in a sequence of DNA. These mutations can be small or big. Whenever the DNA is being made into proteins, the mistakes can have different effects on the organism. Mutations can be positive and cause a change in the organism that allows it to survive better in its environment. Mutations can also be neutral and have no real effect on the overall survival of the organism. Mutations can also be harmful and cause a change that puts the organism in danger, makes it sick, or harms it.

    There are many different kinds of mutations that can be positive, neutral, or negative. In the organism Puffalis puff, their DNA can be changed in many ways that impact the organism. The organism can experience a point mutation which changes a single base on the organisms DNA that changes the color of the organism from blue to green which allows it to survive better in its grassy environment. P. puff can now pass this blue color onto its children so the rest of the population can have this beneficial color. The future population of P. puff will likely continue to grow and reproduce. During the same time, another P. puff experienced an insertion that changed the structure of the protein for their coat which changed it from straight to curly. Their hair had little to no effect on their survival so this mutation was neutral but was still passed onto the children of the puff. One P. puff experienced a big change to its DNA which caused certain proteins to be shorter. These shortened proteins caused the puffs hair to become very short and bright pink. Both of these changes put the puffs in danger because it increased their chance of being spotted by a predator and decreased their survival because they no longer had protection from their cold environment. While this puff was still able to reproduce, its children were also harmed by this change and their lineage did not survive.