The changing meanings of "mutation:" A contextualized study of public discourse.

A quantitative examination of a representative sample of popular discourse about genetics and heredity from U.S. mass magazines between 1919 and 1996 indicates that the term "mutation" has become increasingly negative in its connotations through time. Although it has been used more frequently than alternative terms such as "variation" and "alteration," it is more likely to bear negative connotations than these alternatives. Increases in the negative contextualization of "mutation" were initially associated with reports of genetic damage to humans from nuclear radiation after 1956. Later increases in negative connotations appear to arise from more diffuse sources. These results are contextualized by comparison to other research on meanings of mutation and an observational sample of scientific discourse. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.