Genetic mutations result from a variety of factors, including DNA replication errors and environmental damage to DNA that is not repaired correctly. Some of these mutations involve genes that are not crucial to the process of development, or the mutations are not severe enough to be fatal to the developing fetus. These are known as viable errors. These are the types of mutations that are passed on to offspring.

Question

If a viable error happens in a cell, identify the cell type that could potentially pass the viable error onto an offspring.

(1 point)
Responses

a kidney cell
a kidney cell

a sperm cell
a sperm cell

a nerve cell
a nerve cell

a skin cell

Answer 1

The correct answer is a sperm cell.

Only mutations that occur in germ cells, such as sperm or eggs, can be passed on to offspring. In contrast, mutations in somatic cells (like kidney, nerve, or skin cells) are not inherited by the next generation.