macromutation

[ mak-roh-myoo-tey-shuhn ]

noun

, Genetics.

1. a mutation that has a profound effect on the resulting organism, as a change in a regulatory gene that controls the expression of many structural genes.

Word History and Origins

Origin of macromutation¹

macro- + mutation

Example Sentences

The first animal to be segmented—to go from just a single body to a body with two segments—must have been a macromutation.

From The Daily Beast