mutate

American  

[myoo-teyt] / ˈmyu teɪt /

verb (used with object)

mutated, mutating

1. to change; alter.

2. Biology. to cause (a gene, cell, etc.) to undergo an alteration of one or more characteristics.

   The disease mutates the retina’s rod cells, and they slowly stop working.

3. Phonetics. to change by umlaut.

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verb (used without object)

mutated, mutating

1. to undergo change.

   It was a gamble to mutate from hard rock frontman to big band crooner, but he went seriously retro and won that bet in a huge way.

2. Biology. (of a gene, cell, etc.) to undergo an alteration of one or more characteristics.

   Drug-resistant cells mutate more quickly and could migrate into surrounding tissue.

mutate British  

/ mjuːˈteɪtɪv, ˈmjuːtətɪv, mjuːˈteɪt /

verb

1. to undergo or cause to undergo mutation

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Other Word Forms

• mutative
  adjective
• nonmutative
  adjective
• unmutated
  adjective
• unmutative
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of mutate

First recorded in 1810–20; from Latin mūtātus, past participle of mūtare “to change”; see -ate ¹

Explanation

To mutate is to change, especially genetically. When plants mutate, their genes change in a way that makes them look, grow, or reproduce differently. The word mutate comes up most often in biology, to describe the natural — or artificial — process of genetic change. If a scientist alters an animal’s DNA, for example, it mutates. Another way that scientists mutate organisms is in food production: often the genes in a plant are changed in a way that helps it resist insects or weeds, or makes it grow much larger than normal. The Latin root word of mutate is mutare, which simply means "to change."

Example Sentences

Genes can be expressed or activated, or not—more often they’re not; they mutate and can alter their own function and be altered by environmental forces.

From Slate • Mar. 19, 2026

Most efforts to create broader vaccines have aimed to protect against an entire viral family, such as all coronaviruses or all influenza strains, by targeting viral components that mutate less frequently.

From Science Daily • Feb. 23, 2026

The concern for public health experts has been that, as the virus passes between animals, it could mutate in a way that would allow it to move easily from human to human.

From Barron's • Oct. 28, 2025

And for COVID-19, mRNA vaccines are more effective against new variants, which emerge as viruses mutate, than whole-virus vaccines.

From Salon • Sep. 5, 2025

Another factor Father and his scientists didn’t count on, that biochips would learn, grow, and mutate because somewhere in that ten percent was a hidden message: survive.

From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson

Related Words

• alter
• modify