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nPostednon September 29, 2015
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nIfnyou were a teenage mutant ninja turtle, which would you celebrate –nthe anniversary of your birth as a perfectly ordinary baby turtle, ornthe anniversary of the mutation that caused you to be a smart,ncapable ninja?
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nI’mnguessing the latter…
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nWell,ntoday is the day to celebrate! In the fictional world of TMNT, todaynis the anniversary of Splinter’s and the four Teenage Mutant NinjanTurtles’ mutation.
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nFansnare all over this, creating art and videos and parties.
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nOfncourse, I am all over an enticing name like “Mutation Day” – Injust want to wallow in the biology of it!
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nAnmutations is a permanent change in the DNA of a plant, animal, ornother organism. The change can be caused by damage to DNA, damage tonRNA, a copying error, or from the bits of DNA being inserted into orndeleted from a strand.
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nThenmutation that caused the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to be morenhuman (and much more ninja) than the average pet turtle is, ofncourse, impossible. To make changes that enormous in any one animalnwould require thousands of mutations – not just one!
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nGood…ornbad?
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Anlot of mutations don’t have any effect, so they are pretty muchnneutral as far as the mutated creature goes.
Anlot of mutations don’t have any effect, so they are pretty muchnneutral as far as the mutated creature goes.n
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nOnnthe other hand, many mutations have a harmful effect, and some have angood effect. It all depends on specifically where on the DNA or RNAnstrand the change or copying error is as well as the nature of thenchange or error.
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| If there were no such thing as mutation, life on Earth might be no more complex than this. ^ |
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nOverall,nif you look long-term and big-picture, mutations are good, becausenthey are the raw materials of evolution. If there was no such thingnas mutation, you and I would definitely not be here discussingnmutations – the only life on Earth would be super simple one-celledncreatures.
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nInlove the recipe allegory Mr. Andersen uses to explain aboutnmutations! Check it out.
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nTonlearn more about mutations, check out this lesson plan or thisBrain POP.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversarynof the launch of Canada’s first satellite
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nInventors’nDay in Argentina
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nSeptembern holidays
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nSeptembern birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in September
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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