Mutagens are chemicals or physical factors (such as radiation) that increase the rate of mutation in the cells of bacteria, plants, and animals (including humans). In the living cell, DNA undergoes frequent chemical change, especially during...

Mutagens are chemicals or physical factors (such as radiation) that increase the rate of mutation in the cells of bacteria, plants, and animals (including humans). Most mutagens are of natural origin and are not just a modern phenomenon: even dinosaurs...

A mutagen is any substance or agent that can cause a mutation, or change in the sequence or structure of DNA. Mutagens are classified on the basis of their physical nature and the types of damage they do. A mutagen is not the same as a carcinogen....

Any agent, chemical or physical, that has the potential for inducing permanent change to the genetic material of an organism by altering its DNA. The alteration may be either a point mutation (nucleotide substitution, insertion, or deletion) or a...

Any agent capable of altering a cell's genetic makeup by changing the structure of the hereditary material, DNA. Many forms of electromagnetic radiation (e.g., cosmic rays, X rays, ultraviolet light) are mutagenic, as are various chemical compounds....

In biology, a mutagen (Latin, literally origin of change) is a physical or chemical agent that changes the genetic information (usually DNA) of an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level. As many...