Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An agent, such as a chemical, ultraviolet light, or a radioactive element, that can induce or increase the frequency of mutation in an organism.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A chemical compound or other external influence (such as ionizing radiation) which causes mutations{3}.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun any agent or substance that can cause genetic mutation

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any agent (physical or environmental) that can induce a genetic mutation or can increase the rate of mutation

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[muta(tion) + –gen.]

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