MUTATION
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2236 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
A structural, functional and/or behavioral change affecting a subsystem or a system and, eventually their interactions with their environment.
Deriving from the biological meaning of the concept, in systemics it could be extended and modified: Any mutation affecting one element or component would normally induce a new general structural and behavioral accomodation of the system as a whole and structural and/or functional modifications of some of its processes.
Mutations may also have consequences for the relations of the system with its environment, provoking for instance modifications in its ethological behavior. It should be sometimes difficult to find out if behavioral change precedes or succeeds mutation and how is exactly the reciprocal causal relation between both.