Annotated Bibliography for the Research Paper

“Genetic Mutation?” Themes. N.p. N.d. Web. 6 April 2010.

• “Genes are genuinely magnificent. They are extremely complex, intricate, convoluted, grouped in hundreds of thousands, and, of course - extremely efficient! It follows, therefore, that any mutations within the genes are always detrimental to their function.”
• “A depletion of the gene pool results in a loss of genetic information! Upward evolution of one species into another requires an addition of ordered genetic information, not a removal of genetic information!”

--In this article as said directly by the author, "The evidence I will discuss clearly demonstrates that mutations, for practical purposes, are always useless or harmful." The paper is about disproving the idea of a “good” mutation.

Harter, Richard. “Are Mutations Harmful?” The Talk Origins Archive. N.p. 20 June 2003. Web. 6 April 2010.

• “Some mutations are fatal or very bad. These mutations get eliminated immediately. Some are silent and don't count. Sometimes a mutation is definitely advantageous; this is rare but it does happen. Almost all mutations which aren't silent and which aren't eliminated immediately are neither completely advantageous nor deleterious.”
• “It is important to realize that mutations do not occur in response to the environment. They simply happen.”
• “Mutations are changes in the genome (genetic constitution). There are quite a number of ways in which mutations can happen. They also differ in the way that they impact evolution.”

--In this article there are basic explanations of mutations that anyone can comprehend and each explanation can become vastly detailed for the serious, scientific researcher.

“Helpful Mutations.” Newton BBS. N.p. N.d. Web. 6 April 2010.

• “Pretty much all the variation in existing creatures living on earth are the result of helpful mutation, otherwise, the only living things on earth be exactly the same as the ones when life first came to be on earth.”
• “Any mutation that creates a protein that wasn't there before, but can now be used by the body for something is helpful.”

--This article discusses with scientific fact how the answer to whether most genetic mutations in all kinds of animals is helpful or not is yes.

“Mutations.” Nature Niche. N.p. N.d. Web. 4 April 2010.

• “Mutations are random changes in the genetic information of an organism. These lead to new varieties and traits in an organism. Most are harmful, but a few are neutral or even beneficial.”
• “A beneficial or neutral mutation can quickly become harmful when the environments change.”
• “The environment greatly affects an organism’s ability to survive, and even a small change can be harmful to some organisms.”

--This article gives examples on how the environment is the ultimate decider in whether a genetic mutation is harmful or beneficial to an animal.

Ruder, Kate. “Air Pollution Causes Genetic Mutations.” Genome News Network. N.p. 13 May 2004. Web. 4 April 2010.

• “The source of the mutations was not known at the time, but the prime suspect was air pollution because the gulls nearest the steel mills had the most mutations.”
• “Still, the new findings suggest that genetic changes caused by pollution can be inherited.”
• “One group of mice breathed polluted air, while the other breathed filtered air… After ten weeks, the researchers bred both groups of mice… Baby mice in the “unfiltered” group inherited twice as many mutations as mice in the “filtered” group.”

--In this article, scientists explain that it can be factually proven that air pollution affects animals' genetics and suggests that these changes can also be inherited.

**Note: I do not have page numbers on these sites because they were not divided up by pages, making them all 'Page 1' I suppose, but I wasn't sure.