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

It puzzled her, the ability of romantic love to mutate, how quickly a loved one could become a stranger.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

“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

It mutates even in the course of one infection, and a person who dies of hiv is usually infected with multiple strains, which have all arisen spontaneously as mutants in the body.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

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

And so, I’m on a chemotherapy that’s being delivered to the 97% of my tumors that are benign, and those don’t get hit nearly as hard as the 3% that are mutated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 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

When the gene p53, a well known tumor suppressor, is mutated, that rate nearly doubles.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 10, 2026

"Well, I don't want to stick around in here if it is some weird mutated plague. Call for a bio team. Let's have him brought to the medical ward cells."

From "Legend" by Marie Lu

But some viruses are adept at changing their appearance – or mutating – so vaccines can quickly go out of date.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

Mourning is ever-developing and growing and changing and mutating.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

Nearby, Yang Bao’s “Hyperspace,” a gold, mirrored pyramid accompanied by gleaming shards, nestled in a former lavender field, shimmers amid thyme, gingko, California poppies and native grasses, accompanied by haunting, and constantly mutating, music.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2025

The more cases in humans, the greater the risk of the H5N1 virus mutating to spread more efficiently between people, risking another pandemic like COVID-19.

From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2024

Ernie glared back in the mirror, picking at his face, a big pimple in the middle of his forehead like he was mutating into a unicorn.

From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds

Related Words

• alter
• modify