genetic changes are called
A change to the DNA in a gene can alter a protein's amino acid sequence, thereby changing its shape and function and rendering the protein ineffective or even malignant (e.g. sickle cell anemia). Changes to genes are called mutations.he father of genetics is Gregor Mendel, a late 19th-century scientist and Augustinian friar. Mendel studied 'trait inheritance', patterns in the way traits were handed down from parents to offspring. He observed that organisms (pea plants) inherit traits by way of discrete units of inheritance.