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Principles of Inheritance and Variation
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Somatic mutations are those mutations which occurs in a cell other than germ cells and are not passed to next generations i.e. not heritable. All genetic variation in a population is generated by mutation. Mutation, any heritable change in DNA, can be the change of a single nucleotide base or may involve changes in chromosome number (chromosomal mutations). Gene mutations result in new alleles, and are the source of variation within populations. Gene mutations are ultimately behind the other mechanisms that provide variation.