Mutations are important to the evolutionary process; most cancers result from mutations. germ-line; heritable point; germ-line somatic; heritable germ-line; somatic somatic; germ-line

Germ line mutations are important to the evolutionary process; most cancers result from somatic mutations. Mutations are any heritable changes in the genetic make up that occur spontaneously and random and usually cause a change in the nucleotide sequence of a gene. Germ line mutation occurs in eggs and sperms or in the cells that give rise to these reproductive cells and therefore is passed on to the next generation, while somatic mutations are mutations that occur in the somatic cells.