What is a gene mutation and how do mutations occur?

A gene mutation is a permanent change in the DNA sequence that makes up a gene. Mutations range in size from a single DNA building block (DNA base) to a large segment of a chromosome.

Gene mutations occur in two ways: they can be inherited from a parent or acquired during a person’s lifetime. Mutations that are passed from parent to child are called hereditary mutations or germline mutations (because they are present in the egg and sperm cells, which are also called germ cells). This type of mutation is present throughout a person’s life in virtually every cell in the body.

Mutations that occur only in an egg or sperm cell, or those that occur just after fertilization, are called new (de novo) mutations. De novo mutations may explain genetic disorders in which an affected child has a mutation in every cell, but has no family history of the disorder.

Acquired (or somatic) mutations occur in the DNA of individual cells at some time during a person’s life. These changes can be caused by environmental factors such as ultraviolet radiation from the sun, or can occur if a mistake is made as DNA copies itself during cell division. Acquired mutations in somatic cells (cells other than sperm and egg cells) cannot be passed on to the next generation.

Mutations may also occur in a single cell within an early embryo. As all the cells divide during growth and development, the individual will have some cells with the mutation and some cells without the genetic change. This situation is called mosaicism.

Some genetic changes are very rare; others are common in the population. Genetic changes that occur in more than 1 percent of the population are called polymorphisms. They are common enough to be considered a normal variation in the DNA. Polymorphisms are responsible for many of the normal differences between people such as eye color, hair color, and blood type. Although many polymorphisms have no negative effects on a person’s health, some of these variations may influence the risk of developing certain disorders.

Do all gene mutations affect health and development?

No; only a small percentage of mutations cause genetic disorders—most have no impact on health or development. For example, some mutations alter a gene’s DNA base sequence but do not change the function of the protein made by the gene.

Often, gene mutations that could cause a genetic disorder are repaired by certain enzymes before the gene is expressed (makes a protein). Each cell has a number of pathways through which enzymes recognize and repair mistakes in DNA. Because DNA can be damaged or mutated in many ways, DNA repair is an important process by which the body protects itself from disease.

A very small percentage of all mutations actually have a positive effect. These mutations lead to new versions of proteins that help an organism and its future generations better adapt to changes in their environment. For example, a beneficial mutation could result in a protein that protects the organism from a new strain of bacteria.

Genes And Our Inheritance:

Inheritance is a strange thing. The vast majority of people in this world have probably never heard of that word. That is because most of the world lives in a condition where inheritance is rare. The inheritance that most people on earth receive on the death of a loved one are the memories of that loved one. They have the treasure of remembering the rich things in life; love between a parent and child; an aunt or uncle with their niece or nephew and any number of combinations that you can think of. Life's lessons are another inheritance that many people receive. Good advice and how to use it in life's situations are invaluable. You can have all of the money in the world, and if you lack common sense all of that money is really worthless. The lesson of how to show true and genuine love to people is another inheritance that we receive from loved ones before they departed from this life. And probably the best inheritance is when someone shares their faith in Yeshua with a nonbeliever and they accept and find the grace and peace that one finds when they are in God's love. What a wonderful gift to pass on to other generations.

We inherit physical and emotional traits from our loved ones too. How many times will parents of a newborn child comment to each other about how that child had a nose like the father and the eyes of the mother, and so on. As we get older we see ourselves becoming almost clone-like, an image of one parent or another. We notice that we picked up little habits or traits that our parents have or had. And even if the trait is something that we do not like, and we try to deny it or rid ourselves of it, it still hangs on and refuses to go. That is because it is part of our inheritance from our fathers and forefathers.

Sadly we have to admit that there are bad traits that we pick up from our parents. Someone might pick up anger from their parent while in the same family, a brother and sister will pick up passivity from the other parent. One child might be an introvert; never wanting to leave their home, while the other child becomes the extravert; a mister or miss popularity that just can't get enough of people or events. Abusers tend to spawn abusers and children of alcoholics are more likely to become alcoholics themselves. Of course, many of these things aren't in the actual gene pool of the family, but are acquired because of family dynamics. But when one thinks of it, they are still passed down, and that is an inheritance.

One good example of genes being passed down can be seen in the study of twins, especially if they are identical. Numerous studies have been conducted on twins, triplets and others of like status who were separated at birth or as young children. When these children are reunited as adults they are astonished to find that most of their traits are the same. Not only do they look alike, but they play the same instruments, have married similar women or men, have similar or the same profession, and their likes and dislikes are almost identical. This cannot be attributed to chance or dumb luck, but has to be a genetic predisposition encoded into the genetic structure of each individual.

The Original Human Genetic Condition:

Many in the scientific realm now agree that humans had a ancestral pair of progenitors. That, meaning that there was a first male and female of humankind. They place their existence in a different place and at a far earlier time, but they agree with the Bible's statement that there was an Adam and Chava at the beginning of the human race. We'll assume (and quite assuredly at that) that both Adam and Chava both possessed the genes to make every human variety that there is on earth; from the darkest skin color to the lightest; from the darkest eyes to the lightest; from the blondest hair to the darkest, etc. We'll also assuredly assume that every variety that is between in all of those categories was available too in their gene makeup. We also have to assume that there was aesthetic perfection in their visage too.

But aside from their physical appearance I believe that they were psychologically perfect and perfect in every part of their demeanor. Before their fall to temptation they lived in a perfect creation without the hindrances of sin and the corruption that rebellion brings. Their conversation at the end of a day wasn't centered about how lousy the job was or how it is so hard to keep the house clean. Their conversation was probably centered around the blessings that they received from Yahweh, and how they could tend the garden to better serve Him. As illustrated in Genesis, there were times when Yahweh would come to fellowship with them. So, it was just about as perfect as perfect gets; at least for a little while. And we find out just how great it was by looking at the following scripture:

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 1:31

Now let's look at the meanings of a couple of Hebrew words in the passage to see just how great the newly formed creation was.

Strongs Very
Strongs H3966 m@`od {meh-ode'}

1) exceedingly, much
2) might, force, abundance
3) muchness, force, abundance, exceedingly
    a) force, might
    b) exceedingly, greatly, very (idioms showing magnitude or degree)
        1) exceedingly
        2) up to abundance, to a great degree, exceedingly
        3) with muchness, muchness

Strongs: Good
Strongs H2896  towb {tobe}

1) good, pleasant, agreeable
    a) pleasant, agreeable (to the senses)
    b) pleasant (to the higher nature)
    c) good, excellent (of its kind)
    d) good, rich, valuable in estimation
    e) good, appropriate, becoming
    f) better (comparative)
    g) glad, happy, prosperous (of man's sensuous nature)
    h) good understanding (of man's intellectual nature)
    i) good, kind, benign
    j) good, right (ethical)

What a wonderful insight we get of Elohim's new creation when we read the original language. The word for "good" is Tobe, or in its present usage it is pronounced Tov. It is the same word that is used to announce a good morning, evening or night to a person. If someone in Israel asked you how you are doing, you could just look at them and say Tov, toda, or good, thanks. The richness of the scripture comes when we look at the word for "very." The word meh-ode means exceedingly abundant. So, a rendition of the phrase would read that the creation was good with exceedingly abundance. It almost sounds like Yahweh is expressing that He did such a good job at creating the universe that He exceeded His own expectations; if that were possible. So when we look at Adam and subsequently at Chava, we see that they weren't just a good creation, but were perfection in its highest form. Their genetic makeup was flawless; there is no other way to look at it.

All Was Not Well In Paradise:

Adam and Chava were perfect in every way. Not only were they physically perfect, but they had a perfect intellect. Many people, when they think of the couple tend to think of them as just a couple of ignorant early humans who were only given enough intelligence to be able to name the animals and tend the Garden of Eden. The truth is that they were created as adults, not as children. Adam is told right at the beginning:

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Genesis 2:15

The Hebrew word for "dress" is `abad {aw-bad'}, and it means to labor or to do work. It also means to be tilled or worked. The Hebrew word for "keep," shamar {shaw-mar'} is very interesting; it means to protect, guard, observe or to watch. The two jobs that Yahweh gave to Adam weren't jobs that some ignorant know nothing could do. Farming and husbandry both take a great deal of skill and the ability to pick up knowledge and use that knowledge as its use becomes necessary. It is interesting that Yahweh commissions Adam to be a watchman or guard for the garden. This usage of terms seems to suggest that there is an enemy that the Garden needs to be protected from. Of course we know that the enemy was Satan. The timing of this commission also suggests that Satan, and his angels' fall from grace happened before this time. Notice also that only Adam is given this commission, and not Chava. Yahweh would have given Adam instructions about how to guard the Garden and what to look out for. Being the guard, he would have always been at a higher alert level than Chava, sort of like a security guard in a department store is always at a higher state of alert than the sales persons who work there. This would have made Chava an easier target for Satan, and one easier to deceive.

Just as a side note, I feel that we should explore the nature of the serpent that beguiled Chava. The word for serpent is Nachash, and in its normal form, it means "serpent." But, when one looks at the root of Nachash we come up with the following:

The Hebrew word rendered "serpent" in Genesis 3:1 is Nachash (from the root Nachash, to shine, and means a shining one. Hence, in Chaldee it means brass or copper, because of its shining. Hence also, the word Nehushtan, a piece of brass, in 2Kings 18:4.

In the same way Saraph, in Isaiah 6:2,6, means a burning one, and, because the serpents mentioned in Numbers 21 were burning, in the poison of their bite, they were called Saraphim, or Seraphs.

But when the LORD said unto Moses, "Make thee a fiery serpent" (Numbers 21:8), He said, "Make thee a Saraph", and, in obeying this command, we read in verse 9, "Moses made a Nachash of brass". Nachash is thus used as being interchangeable with Saraph.

Now, if Saraph is used of a serpent because its bite was burning, and is also used of a celestial or spirit-being (a burning one), why should not Nachas be used of a serpent because its appearance was shining, and be also used of a celestial or spirit-being (a shining one)? Appendix 19 of the Companion Bible

It makes much more sense to understand Chava's being deceived when one realized that the Nachash (the shining one) was actually an angelic shining being that spoke to her. Any story of her being beguiled by a snake (serpent) sitting in a tree makes Chava look like some backwoods ignoramus who couldn't spell words with more than three letters. But by our knowing that she was created from the rib of Adam, and that she possessed perfection herself, and was equally as intelligent as Adam makes us realize that Satan's deception was more than just a simple come-on line.

Adam and Chava were created with a dangerous ability. Just like you and me, they had the freedom of choice. We know this partly because Yahweh had to command them to do certain things. Had they not had freedom of choice then Yahweh could have just programmed them to be robotic drones, much like worker bees in a bee colony; only having specific jobs and not a mind of their own. The classic scripture that proves their personal choice ability is when Yahweh tells them not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, telling them that should they do so, they would die.

Now to further prove their intelligence, we have to look at how Satan deceived Chava. If she had been some individual with a base intelligence then Satan could have just showed her the fruit and espoused its finer attributes. He could have said, "hey, what does Yahweh know. This fruit is pleasant to the touch, it smells great and its taste is to die for." No pun intended. But even Satan knew that Chava possessed a superior intellect, so he had to bypass her knowledge and appeal to her flesh. The ultimate purpose of the flesh is to have freedom from Yahweh and to have self control and self autonomy. The promise of a great tasting piece of fruit, while it would temporarily satiate the flesh still bore the promise of death. He promised her that if she ate of the fruit, she could become like God. The promise of godhood was just too much to pass up. And of course, we all know how the story went. A perfect analogy is seen in gambling. If you had only ten dollars and someone told you that if your gamble would get you twenty dollars, you'd think hard about it. Sure, twenty dollars would be nice, but the ten that you have in your pocket will buy you a couple of meals and that food will help you to survive longer. If you lost it in the gamble, you'd starve, right? But if someone came up to you and said that there's a sure fire way to parlay that ten dollars into two or three million dollars then the promise is much better. Of course, you still have the same chances that you'll lose your ten dollars, but the hope of a better reward should you win, is extremely tempting. If you win, you'll be a financial god; able to afford just about anything, having no worry and living fat and sassy. You start to think about losing. If I lose I'll be able to get another ten dollars in a couple of weeks. I could starve for that long should I lose, ponder. You start to think that you could always ask someone for money if you lost the gamble. Maybe the person placing the bet would have compassion on you and, seeing your situation, will give you the money back. I'm sure that some similar thoughts went through Chava's head before she acquiesced to the temptations of Satan. The thing is that Yahweh has to stick by His own word. He has to abide by His own decisions and rules and He couldn't change them for anyone who was in rebellion.

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 1 Timothy 2:14

So, if Adam was not deceived, then why did he eat of the fruit from a tree that he was commanded not to eat from? Well, I guess that people have speculated about that throughout time. My personal view is that Chava was the only possession on Earth that Adam really cared for. She was a part of him, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. She was his companion, his confidant and someone that he loved dearly. He love her so much so that he deliberately rebelled against Yahweh in order that she would not have to forego the punishment alone. He was a type of the future Messiah, who would love His Church so much that he was willing to die for her. Something to chew on for quite a while, don't you think?

What Was Lost In The Fall of Mankind?

The act of Adam an Chava's rebellion against God was one that could not go unpunished. It's fairly simple to deduce what humankind lost as a result of that rebellion. When we look at the scripture below, we can get some idea of what was lost by seeing what is taken from from Adam and Chava, or by what the received in the way of punishment.

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. Genesis 3:16-24

 God first addresses Chava, probably because was the first of the two to rebel against Yahweh's commandment not to eat the fruit. The words in Hebrew for what Yahweh told Chava are as follows:

• sorrow = `itstsabown {its-tsaw-bone'} = pain, labor, hardship or sorrow or toil
   
• conception = herown {hay-rone'} or herayown {hay-raw-yone'} = physical conception or pregnancy
   
• sorrow = `etseb {eh'-tseb} = pain, hurt toil hardship, labour
   
• desire = t@shuwqah {tesh-oo-kaw'} = desire, longing or craving - a man for a woman or a woman for a man.

So in essence what Yahweh was saying is that pregnancy would not be easy, but would be painful or a laborious thing. He also says that the act of childbirth would be painful. And thirdly, he would make it a natural thing for women to long and crave for their husbands. It's not very hard, by looking at these things to see what Chava lost as a result of the fall. Just reversing the proclamations shows that Yahweh's plan before the fall was for pregnancy to be a relatively easy thing. It's possible that had the fall not occurred, all of the complications that accompany the nine months of gestation would not be present. Women would not have the pain and discomfort that they currently have and there would be no reason to wonder what the condition of the child is while it is in the womb. The act of childbirth before the fall would have most likely been painless and the healing would have been accelerated or possibly unnecessary. It's hard to speculate what the human anatomy was like before the fall. And finally, instead of being a co-laborer with Adam, Chava was now to be subservient to him.

Before the fall, Adam's job was to dress and keep the garden of Eden. Because of the perfect condition of the creation his job was probably very easy. God proclaims that the ground was cursed from then on and that Adam would reap a crop, but it would be a great toil for him. He and Chava ate herbs, along with other things, like fruit and other vegetables before the fall and the harvest was probably plentiful and simple. Now, with the fall, Adam had weeds growing in his garden, and not just the normal type of weed, but thorns and thistles. He would have to weed his gardens all of the time and when it came time to harvest he was probably pricked many times by those thorns and thistles. Also, the perfect conditions of the garden were gone and Adam had to toil and labor under the hot sun, causing him to be covered with perspiration and dust. It must have been a terrible curse to bear after living in paradise. Imagine the shame that the couple must have felt. Having been made from the clay of the earth and then exalted to be a special creation of Yahweh, only to sin and be made to till the very material that you are made from. It must have been a very humbling experience. Equally tormenting would be the thought that he and Chava had condemned all of their offspring to the same fate.

But what was the big daddy of all of the consequences of eating the forbidden fruit? Well of course, as illustrated in the scripture below, it was death:

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:17

Unfortunately, this scripture has been used by many who are ignorant to prove to themselves that the Bible is filled with inaccuracies. Obviously, Chava nor Adam died as a result of eating the forbidden fruit. If that were so, the Bible would be an easy read of only about three chapters total. But two things were set into effect when the disobedience occurred. First, the propensity of physical death became a real and present danger. If genetics played into the scenario, then the gene that would have led to perpetual longevity was deactivated and the gene for a limited longevity was activated. But we have to note in the Genesis chapter three scripture that Yahweh is concerned that the couple not be able to eat from the tree of life because it would allow the couple to live in perpetual sin forever. It's possible that that tree contained some sort of compound that would reverse the genetic change that had just occurred because of their rebellion. It's also possible to speculate that the tree's effect was a metaphor with spiritual implications; sort of like when Moses cast the snake of bronze in the wilderness and everyone who looked at it was healed. This is really an unknown thing that we will have to wait to ask until we get to glory.

Physical death isn't a comforting thought, to say the least. Although that is bad news, there is a worse sort of death that is involved in the fall of mankind. That death is a separation from fellowship with Yahweh. If not dealt with, this death results in a permanent second death as spoken of in Revelation, eternal separation from Yahweh, which in itself is torment enough.

There is evidence that Yahweh used to visit Adam and Chava periodically as seen in the following scripture:

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8

Adam and Chava noticed immediately that there had been some sort of change. When they heard Yahweh walking in the garden they were afraid. It was probably the first time they had ever experienced fear:

And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? Genesis 3:9-11

Now Yahweh wasn't being ignorant. He knew that a transgression had occurred. He just wanted to have Adam confess to what he (Adam) had done. After all, he was basically in charge in the Garden of Eden and to whomsoever much is given, much is required. So Adam, the once perfect man, decides to place the blame on Chava. Chivalry died that day.

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. Genesis 3:12

With fear comes the dread of consequences. How many times when we were children we thought that if we could place the blame on a sibling or a neighbor kid we could skate away free from the situation, only to be caught in the lie and punished more severely. Well, at least that is what happened to me. The actions of Adam that particular day weren't the actions of a creation devoid of imperfection, but one of a creation trying to justify their actions; hence, sin.

Sin is an ancient word that basically means a person misses the mark of perfection. In the Middle Ages archers practiced on targets much like archers and shooters do today. Targets have a center point that is known as the bull's-eye. If one hits within the bulls-eye it is a perfect score, but if the projectile hits outside the bulls-eye it is off the mark and not perfect. When Adam and Chava committed their rebellious act, they caused a gap between mankind and Yahweh; a separation with a wide chasm that no man could ever cross over. This has been passed down in our genetic code since that day.

The Apostle John summed up the Human genetic condition with the following scripture, when writing to the Church:

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1 John 2:16

Notice that all things mentioned in the scripture have to do with the flesh and the mind; all of which are dictated to by our genetic makeup. Another scripture to back this up is:

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41

So we have the words of Yeshua Himself, telling us that the flesh is in a fallen state, in genetic degradation. Since this is true, it seems that mankind doesn't have a chance of making things right with Yahweh. Science will never be able to find the gene that is faulty, I believe simply because Yahweh has recessed that gene so far into the genome of humanity that only HE can fix it.

Levi Genes vs. Yahweh Cords

Forgive the play on words. I think we would all be disappointed if I hadn't attempted that pun. Perhaps an explanation is in order for those who didn't grow up in the 60's or 70's here in the states. Back then we had two types of casual pants to wear; Jeans and Corduroys. The jeans were like what we see today and the cords were made of fabric that had little ridges on it and if you worked it right, they would make a whoop-ahh sound when you walked. So, with that out of the way, we will proceed.

Many empires, nations, peoples and tribes have throughout the millennia tried to reconcile mankind to God, or their version of a god. This act is known as Religion. Religion is defined as a person or groups attempt to reconcile themselves to God. This has been done in a variety of different ways, from self denial, abstaining of foods or self flagellation or mutilation. Some have resorted to sacrificing conquered peoples and some have sacrificed women or children to appease their interpretation of god. But the key factor in all of these things is a person thinking that they can actually do an act that would cause God to change their fallen state. Well, a person has a better chance of trying to change the Gulf Stream current by sticking their foot in the ocean or causing the earth to stop spinning by blowing real hard while facing east; it just can't be done.

Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel knew this and implemented a system to show mankind that it is impossible to appease God by human efforts. After the exodus from Egypt He sat Moshe down and wrote down in total 613 commandments. To make it easy on the average person, He chose ten that were very important to keep. He also implemented several laws that dealt with the passing over of sins via offerings and animal sacrifices. The offering and sacrifice laws were created in order to cover the sins of the people because the commandments were basically impossible to keep. While this might seem harsh and unfair of Yahweh, it was done to show that man's attempt to please God could never satisfy the requirements of a Holy God. The offerings and sacrifices did however have a benefit. Yahweh knew that someday in the future He would have to provide the sacrifice in man's behalf because only perfection could offer a perfect sacrifice. Only Yahweh could restore the genetic makeup of mankind to its original state. Only perfect can make perfect.

So how can a person be reconciled to Yahweh? How can they have their genetic structure changed so that they are acceptable to Yahweh? It's quite simple; a person has to become born again: