point mutation

American  

noun

Genetics.

1. a change in a single base in a nucleotide sequence.

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point mutation Scientific  

1. A mutation in which one nucleotide is added, deleted, or replaced by another. Point mutations include missense, nonsense, frameshift, and silent mutations.

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Etymology

Origin of point mutation

First recorded in 1920–25

Compare meaning

How does point-mutation compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• point mutation vs. frameshift
• point mutation vs. frameshift mutation

Example Sentences

In children with early-onset dementia, a point mutation reshapes this fin-like loop.

From Science Daily • Dec. 9, 2025

A point mutation changes the gene to read ATGCGTTATGGGGAGTAG.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Anywhere the compound gets inserted and that conformational shift happens, a point mutation occurs, Plemper says.

From Scientific American • Oct. 12, 2021

One change, explains the Gates Foundation’s Ananda Bandyopadhyay, who co-chairs the nOPV2 working group at GPEI, was to block a single point mutation that seems to be the “gatekeeper,” preceding other events leading to virulence.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 10, 2020

He and his colleagues used this technique to test every possible point mutation in a short stretch of Hsp90, a protein that is necessary for yeast growth.

From Nature • Feb. 8, 2012