Question

question 7 of 10
during the production of a gamete, a guanine replaces a thymine in a growing strand of dna. the dna repair mechanisms do not catch the mistake, and the resulting offspring has a mutation.
which claim is best supported by this information?
a. mutations caused by environmental factors can result in inheritable genetic variations.
b. new allele combinations that occur during lateral gene transfer can cause inheritable genetic variations.
c. inheritable genetic variations can occur during meiosis due to independent assortment.
d. inheritable genetic variations can be caused by errors during dna replication.

Explanation:

The question describes a DNA replication error (guanine replacing thymine) that leads to a mutation in the offspring. This directly relates to inheritable genetic variations from DNA replication errors. Option A is about environmental factors (not mentioned here). Option B is about lateral gene transfer (not relevant). Option C is about independent assortment (not the focus here). So, D is the best - supported claim.

Answer:

D. Inheritable genetic variations can be caused by errors during DNA replication.