In
biology and especially
genetics, a
mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of
mutation, which is a base-pair sequence change within the
DNA of a
gene or
chromosome of an
organism. The natural occurrence of genetic mutations is integral to the process of
evolution. The study of mutants is an integral part of biology; by understanding the effect that a mutation in a gene has, it is possible to establish the normal function of that gene.