Name: _________________________________________

Genetic Mutations Lab

Directions:

1. Grab one bag of Fun sized bag of plain M&M’s and a paper towel per table; this represents the original population of the Colored
candies organism.

2. Empty the bag of M&Ms onto the paper towel and record the number of each color candy and its percentage.

3. Five of your M&Ms undergo a spontaneous germ line mutation (they lived too close to a radioactive power plant) into Redhots.
Eliminate 5 M&Ms (set the candy aside), and add 5 Redhots to your count. Record the data for F1 on the chart.

4. Have one person from your table group close his/her eyes, and blindly remove 5 candies (set the candy aside).

5. Replace the 5 candies that were taken with “new” candies. These new candies must have the characteristics of your existing
sample. This means that if there are no yellow M&Ms left in your sample, you cannot add a yellow M&M replacement. Record the data
for F2 on the chart.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 two more times (Generation F3 and F4). Make sure the blind sampling is done by a different member of the
group each time.

7. Enjoy your candy as you answer all post lab questions.

Color of # of % of Mutation # of % of # of % of # of % of # of % of
candy each each is each each each each each each each each
from color color introduce color in color in color in color in color in color in color in color in
original from from d F2 F2 F3 F3 F4 F4 F5 F5
population original original
popula population
tion
(F1) (F1)

Purple 24 18.6% Purple 24 18.6% 21 16.9% 21 17.6% 19 16.6%

Green 18 14% Green 17 13.2% 16 12.9% 16 13.4% 16 13.4%
Orange 35 27.1% Orange 33 25.6% 33 26.6% 31 26.1% 30 26.3%
Yellow 28 21.7% Yellow 28 21.7% 27 21.8% 26 21.8% 26 22.8%
Red 24 18.6% Red 22 17.1% 22 17.8% 20 16.8% 18 15.7%
Maltesers 5 9.6% Maltesers 10 19.2% 15 28.8% 20 38.5% 25 48.1%

% Total # 134 129 124 119 114

of
candy
in
original
populat
ion =