title: Mutation: major evolutionary trends.
abstract: The chemistry of the mutation process reflects not only the chemistry of DNA damage but also its subsequent metabolic processing by the cell. It is these latter steps that are the most important. They have evolved in ways that are only now coming to be understood and which reveal the effects of powerful evolutionary pressures.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Drake
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair; D009154:Mutation; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D004247:DNA