Could you tell me what the difference is between a carcinogen and a mutagen.
2007-03-19 07:02:04 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Ammonium vanadate, a yellow crystalline solid which dissolves in water, is the most common laboratory vanadate reagent
Vanadate minerals are those minerals containing the vanadate (VO43-) anion group.
The term carcinogen refers to any substance, radionuclide or radiation which is an agent directly involved in the promotion of cancer or in the facilitation of its propagation. This may be due to genomic instability or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes.
A mutagen (Latin, literally origin of change) is a physical or chemical agent that changes the genetic information (usually DNA) of an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level. As many mutations cause cancer, mutagens are typically also carcinogens. Not all mutations are caused by mutagens: So-called "spontaneous mutations" occur due to errors in DNA replication, repair and recombination of DNA sequences.
2007-03-19 07:59:23 · answer #1 · answered by MSK 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Carcinogens cause cancer and mutagens cause mutations!
2007-03-21 08:54:09 · answer #2 · answered by Me! 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋