Sharp Lab at UW-Madison: The Dual Nature of Mutation

Mutations, spontaneous changes in DNA, may seem like they're always negative, but while they do cause a number of forms of disease they are also responsible for all variation in evolution, beneficial, neutral, and harmful. UW-Madison Genetics Program graduate students Kevin and Katharine discuss what mutations are, and how they affect evolution and people’s lives.

For more informative videos and content on evolution and evolutionary research at UW-Madison, check out the James F. Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution at https://evolution.wisc.edu/. For more information on Kevin and Katharine’s research, check out the Sharp (https://sharp.genetics.wisc.edu/) and Wellik (https://wellik.crb.wisc.edu/) labs.