mutagen.

An agent capable of causing or increasing changes in genetic material.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• chemical mutagen
• exposure to a mutagen

On the page

The analysis tested whether the compound acted as a chemical mutagen under the specified conditions.

Exposure to a mutagen was investigated separately from the material’s other toxic effects.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror / sci-fi / gothic. Forms: Singular mutagen; plural mutagens. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: hazard description, speculative setting, bodily condition, scene explanation. Disciplines: genre writing, science-informed description, clinical and safety vocabulary. Commonness: uncommon.