Link Centre Dictionary

muton

mu·ton

uncommon

noun

1.

the smallest unit of DNA where a mutation can occur

Origin

Contracted form of mutation + -on, coined by American molecular biologist Seymour Benzer in 1957 as "[t]he unit of mutation […] defined as the smallest element that, when altered, can give rise to a mutant form of the organism."

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.