The Theory of Rate Processes and Gene Mutation

Abstract

The theory of rate processes as it applies to mutating genes is shown by equation, in conformity with thermodynamic principles. Essentially, a mutating reaction is pictured as a change in configuration in the transition state of the reaction, during which maximal energy is attained and the mutation may surmount the energy barrier which has kept it stable. Initiation of the genetic change may be pictured in the following way: a mutagen, natural or applied, in combination with a particular group in the genetic structure initiates a series of reactions which give rise to an intermediate semiactivated state. This may lead to a permanent change in genetic structure or it may revert to the normal state. Environmental circumstances affect the probability of its going one way or the other.