mutate

American  

[myoo-teyt] / ˈmju teɪt /

verb (used with object)

• mutates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• mutated,
  past participle,  past
• mutating
  present participle

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)

• mutates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• mutated,
  past participle,  past
• mutating
  present participle

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Participles

• mutating
  present
• mutated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• mutate
  simple
• mutates
  simple
• have mutated
  perfect
• has mutated
  perfect
• am mutating
  progressive
• are mutating
  progressive
• is mutating
  progressive
• have been mutating
  perfect progressive
• has been mutating
  perfect progressive

Past

• mutated
  simple
• had mutated
  perfect
• was mutating
  progressive
• were mutating
  progressive
• had been mutating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will mutate
  simple
• will have mutated
  perfect
• will be mutating
  progressive
• will have been mutating
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

mutate mutates mutated mutating

"We've converted vaccine development from being reactive to being future proof. Our vaccines will continue to provide protection against viruses even as they mutate into new strains," said Heeney.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026

When hypergolic propellants burn, they release highly carcinogenic toxins and can cause suffocation and mutate a person’s DNA.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

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

This gave H3N2 another chance to mutate, which is natural for viruses, and so it did.

From Salon ● Jan. 8, 2026

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

“It’s a virus that mutates and against which people must be immunized over and over again.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

Then, in its final minute, the song mutates again, this time into reggaeton.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026

If that protein in the coronavirus changes or mutates then the body's protection is lessened.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2025

This lucky fact could change, however, as the virus mutates within each cow it infects.

From Salon ● May 23, 2024

He descends into dreams in which Fredericks mother mutates into a leering, small-mouthed demon and lowers Dr. Hauptmann’s triangles over his head.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

The researchers began by studying the vaccine in melanoma because those tumors are typically highly mutated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

This is the same gene that is mutated in people with FPLD2.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026

But the alternative, as “Backrooms” so sagely implies, is remaining stuck in the past, letting ourselves be mutated and misremembered until we look nothing like us at all.

From Salon ● May 30, 2026

Next he turned to AlphaFold, a scientific AI model that won 2024's chemistry Nobel, to better understand one of the mutated doggy genes.

From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026

Poxies crept toward us, mutated to the point they barely resembled anything human.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

Successive governments have attempted to ban such groups, yet the problem has persisted with gangs mutating, rebranding and reappearing under new names each electoral cycle.

From BBC ● May 3, 2026

It appears Spider-Man’s DNA could be mutating, as he has gained the ability to produce organic webs, which could be alarming.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026

Stillness that is not still—think Martha Graham by way of Irving Penn, with a nod to Rei Kawakubo’s mutating forms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2025

This is particularly true when Elisabeth starts mutating in response to her/Sue’s “misuse” of the titular substance.

From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2025

“We’ve strayed from Lana’s point. There’s something wrong with this virus. It’s not consistent. I’m not a scientist, but could it be mutating or something? Changing as it jumps from one person to the next?”

From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner

Related Words

• alter
• modify