KCET 2015 Biology Solved Paper

If an inheritable mutation is observed in a population at high frequency, it is referred to as DNA polymorphism. The probability of such variation to be observed in non-coding DNA sequence would be higher as mutations in these sequences may not have any immediate effect in an individual reproductive ability. These mutations keep on accumulating generation after generation, and form one of the basis of variability/polymorphism. There is a variety of different types of polymorphisms ranging from single nucleotide change to very large-scale changes. For evolution and speciation, such polymorphisms play very important role.