Chapter 2 addresses how well the biological process of mutation is described by some of the ordinary meanings of “chance“ or “randomness“ in science: lack of purpose or foresight, uniformity (homogeneity), stochasticity, indeterminacy, unpredictability, spontaneity, and independence (chance). Ordinary mutations exhibit various kinds of heterogeneity (nonuniformity), e.g., by genomic position, or by cell-cycle state. The occurrence of mutations is affected by various conditions inside the cell, e.g., the spectrum of replication errors is shaped by the composition of DNA precursor pools. Many of the processes that lead to mutation are spontaneous in the sense of emerging internally, but some processes reflect external effects such as radiation or uptake of foreign DNA. Though most of the processes that lead to mutations are “macroscopic,” some processes (e.g., damage caused by radioactive decay or electromagnetic radiation) implicate quantum indeterminacy.
Influence of intense coherent electromagnetic radiation on several types of radioactive decay