Can organisms mutate themselves, and what is the variation of organisms?

It seems that LZ does not understand the definition of variation very well, the definition of variation in ecology or biology is, "refers to the difference between the offspring and the parents of the organism, the difference between the offspring of the individual", from this definition, the organism itself is undoubtedly mutating, because the difference between the parents and the offspring, between the offspring and the offspring from birth to this or that, the so-called "dragon born nine children are different" is also the truth.

So, I guess what LZ wants to ask is whether organisms have their own genetic mutations or chromosomal mutations, right? From this point of view, there are very few mutations in ordinary organisms, and many of them are caused by environmental mutations (such as the influence of rays, the poisoning of heavy metals, etc.), but even if the mutations caused by the environment are undoubtedly the mutations produced by the organisms themselves.

So, I think the final question that LZ wants to ask is, do organisms actively produce mutations that adapt to their environment? If we had studied evolution, we would have known the answer to this proposition. All the time, the natural world is mutating, and so are living things.

As a result of natural selection, organisms that are partially adapted to the environment, such as darker-colored moths that are more likely to survive in heavily polluted areas, but the genotype of these organisms is also the result of random changes, rather than changes in the environment that they respond to, i.e., these darker-colored moths do not produce darker colors because of increased environmental pollution, but because the moths with darker colors have survived bird predation, while white or light-colored moths are more likely to be eliminated. From this point of view, organisms themselves do not actively produce mutations to adapt to the environment, and the mutations are all random and the result of environmental selection.

In this way, this question should be explained clearly, and I hope it will inspire LZ.

Yes, it can mutate due to environmental influences, and it can also mutate during reproduction.

Yes. However, the frequency of this variation is low.

Variation in organisms refers to the phenomenon of differences between parents and offspring of organisms and between individuals of offspring, including both favorable and unfavorable variations. Specifically, it can be divided into two types: heritable variation and non-heritable variation, the former is the variation caused by changes in genetic material. The latter is only a variation caused by environmental factors, and its genetic material has not changed, and the variation of organisms commonly referred to refers to heritable variation.

The variation of living things isThere are more or less differences between the parents and offspring, and between the offspring individuals. In addition, biological variation is further divided into heritable variation and non-heritable variation. For example, the parent has earlobes, but the offspring does not; Single eyelid in parental and double eyelid in offspring.

There will always be some differences in appearance between children and parents, between siblings. If the seeds of the same crop are planted, the offspring plants will be tall and short, some may have large ears and many grains, and some may have small ears and fewer grains. The differences in traits between the parents and offspring of an organism, as well as between the individuals of the offspring, are called variation.

Like genetic phenomena, the phenomenon of variation is prevalent in the biological world.

Biological explanations of biological variation

Can both heritable and non-heritable variations be inherited? Let's look at these two examples: a couple with normal color vision gave birth to a colorblind son. Example: Two brothers, the elder brother has been working in the field for a long time, and the younger brother has been working indoors for a long time, and the elder brother has a darker face compared to the younger brother.

The variation in Example 1 is determined by the genetic material and can be passed on to future generations, and such variation is called heritable variation. The variation in example 2 is only caused by the influence of the external environment, and the genetic material has not changed, so it cannot be passed on to future generations, and such variation is called non-inherited variation. For a certain organism, some mutations are conducive to its survival, which is called favorable mutation.

For example, high-yielding lodging wheat and low-yielding lodging-resistant wheat are cross-bred to produce high-yield lodging-resistant wheat. Some mutations are not conducive to its survival, which is called adverse mutations. For example, corn sometimes has albino seedlings, such seedlings do not have chlorophyll, cannot photosynthesize, and will die prematurely, which is an adverse variation.

In the process of reproduction, organisms continue to produce various favorable variations, which is of great significance for the evolution of organisms. We know that the environment on Earth is complex, diverse and ever-changing.

Organisms cannot adapt to changing environments if they cannot mutate. If there is no heritable variation, no new types of organisms will emerge, and organisms will not be able to evolve from simple to complex, from low to high. Thus, variation provides the raw material for biological evolution.

1) Genes are the smallest unit that determines a trait, so when we talk about biological variation, we often have to say the smallest unit that leads to this outcome, so let's say genes.

2) Genetic variation does not necessarily lead to chromosomal variation, so some variations occur when there is no chromosome variation.

3) Chromosomal variations, which often lead to serious and sometimes fatal results.

When we talk about biological variation, we tend to talk about organisms that have such mutations and survive, so genetic mutations are more accurate.

Chromosome structural variation changes the number and order of genes arranged on chromosomes, resulting in variations in traits, most of which are detrimental to organisms, and some even lead to death.

And genetic mutations can produce new genes, so they can also produce new traits, so the root of biological variation is genetic mutations.

It's a concept in high school, and it's good to be able to memorize it, hehe.

Chromosomal mutations only produce changes and cannot produce new species, and the gradual accumulation of genetic mutations will eventually produce new species;

The main cause of biological variation is generally a change in the genetic material (DNA or RNA).

1.Gene mutation, genetic recombination, and chromosomal variation are the three main types of biological variation, which belong to heritable variation. Among them, genetic mutation is the root of biological variation**.

2.Physical, chemical, biological, and other factors can all contribute to mutations.

3.Environmental factors can also cause variation in organisms, which are generally non-heritable.