Today most scientists regard the term mutation as a description of a change in an individual gene and more precisely as some minute alteration of the DNA of that gene especially a nucleotide substitution. But the idea of mutation has changed considerably from the preMendelian concepts of Darwins generation who viewed fluctuating variations as the raw material on which evolution acted to todays uptotheminute genomic context of mutation. Mutation The History of an Idea from Darwin to Genomics