back mutation

American

noun

Genetics.

a mutation of an existing mutant gene that restores it to its previous form.

back mutation British

noun

genetics the reversion of a mutant to the original phenotype

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of back mutation

First recorded in 1935–40

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023