3 ms·

Does anyone know the baseline rate for mutations for a non-smoker? Edit: Corrected autocorrect

• jjn2009 10y ago
  If you meant nonsmoker then you asked the most relevant metric in my opinion.
• CppCoder 10y ago
  I read the original study and yes, they did compare it to lifelong non-smokers. However, as far as I saw they only compared people with cancer. And the numbers were usually increased for smokers and the smokers usually ended up with more of a certain kind of cancer.
  • ommunist 10y ago
    Great. Were the groups stratified against occupation? Were the smokers with no cancer under study?
• pazimzadeh 10y ago
  "In the absence of mutagens, an average gene will mutate about once in a million generations. ~10^16 cell divisions occur in a typical life span so somewhere in cells that are part of you each of your genes has mutated 10^10 times (hence cancer). Only mutations in the germ line can be passed on to the next generation. You have about 50 mutations that your parents dont have (mutations that happened in the egg or sperm that made you up)-each of your parents in turn have passed on ~50 mutants that their parents dont have." Source: an email from my undergrad genetics professor