Question

Would a mutation to a gamete be passed onto the offspring? If so, why?

Answer 1

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

It all depends on chance, really.

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Have you talked about Meiosis, in class?

MEIOSIS is the method of cell division that our SEX CELLS use.

SEX CELLS are GAMETES.
The MALE sex cells are SPERM.
The FEMALE sex cells are EGGS.

Now you might've talked about this in class:
at the end of Meiosis,
there are FOUR haploid cells.

In MALES,
ALL FOUR haploid cells become sperm.

In FEMALES,
only ONE haploid cell becomes an egg.
The other three die.

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This is important,
because we know that a child is formed by ONE sperm, and ONE egg, joined together.

If the genetic mutation is a part of either the sperm, or the egg, that forms the child,
then yes, the mutation will be passed on.

But if the mutation forms inside of a sperm or egg that does NOT become the child,
then no, the mutation will not be passed on.

Does that make sense?

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Sometimes, genetic mutations that ARE passed onto us do not appear.

One example is Cystic Fibrosis, which is a disease that's cause by a genetic mutation.

If someone has the mutated gene for Cystic Fibrosis,
that person might not actually display the disease.

The mutated gene will just live inside of them,
and do nothing.

The only way we WILL display the symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis
is if we get the mutated gene from BOTH of our parents. Not just one parent.