A heritable change in the
nucleotidesequence of genomic
DNA (or
RNA in
RNA viruses), or in the number of
genes or
chromosomes in a cell, which may occur spontaneously or be brought about by chemical mutagens
or by radiation (induced mutation).
Source:
PAC, 1992, 64, 143
(Glossary for chemists of terms used in biotechnology (IUPAC Recommendations 1992))
on page 161