How to Use mutate in a Sentence

mutate

verb
Definition of mutatenext
Synonyms for mutatenext
  • Viruses mutate in people with healthy immune systems, too.
    — Stephanie Nolen, New York Times, 4 Dec. 2021
  • Researchers don’t know whether the coronavirus will mutate every year, as influenza does.
    — Julie Washington, cleveland, 28 Nov. 2021
  • Like sotrovimab, Adagio’s treatment targets a spot on the spike protein that is less likely to mutate.
    — Denise Roland, WSJ, 7 Dec. 2021
  • What scientists do know is that the virus is much more likely to mutate in places where vaccination is low and transmission high.
    — Helen Regan, CNN, 29 Nov. 2021
  • As more of a population gets vaccinated, fewer chances exist for a virus to spread and mutate.
    — Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8 Dec. 2021
  • Even so, scientists say that variant vaccines are likely to play a role at some point, assuming the virus continues to mutate.
    — Denise Roland, WSJ, 9 Dec. 2021
  • But Sigal warned that as long as Africa lags behind in vaccinations, the virus will continue to mutate.
    — Debora Patta, CBS News, 30 Nov. 2021
  • Viruses naturally change and mutate over time, and because so much of the world has yet to be vaccinated, new variants were almost certain to take off.
    — Washington Post, 9 Dec. 2021
  • Science tells us that leaving large swathes of people unvaccinated means more opportunities for the virus to mutate.
    — Oumar Seydi, Fortune, 9 Dec. 2021
  • Because cancer cells are normal cells that mutate to grow out of control, directing the body to destroy these cells is a risky endeavor with potentially dangerous outcomes.
    — Alice Park, Time, 29 Nov. 2021
  • Although most genetic changes are innocuous as viruses mutate, some can make the mutant more adept at infecting cells, for example, or evading antibodies.
    — Matthew Burgess, Fortune, 8 Dec. 2021
  • The gap between vaccinated and unvaccinated populations allows the virus to spread and mutate.
    — Anne Saker, The Enquirer, 15 Dec. 2021
  • Allowing the virus to spread unchecked gives it more opportunities to mutate without the blanket of protection vaccines offer at the community level.
    — Syra Madad and Jacob Glanville, CNN, 29 Nov. 2021
  • Omicron is a reminder of the danger of uncontrolled spread in developing countries with low vaccination rates, scenarios that can allow the virus to mutate into new variants.
    — Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times, 29 Nov. 2021
  • That strain—the same that mutated to spread from mink to mink—is present in Asia, too.
    — Annalisa Merelli, Quartz, 1 Mar. 2023
  • Because the more people Covid infects, the more chances the virus has to mutate.
    — Chris Cillizza, CNN, 21 Dec. 2021
  • The internet will evolve or mutate around a need for it.
    — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 17 Nov. 2022
  • Every new infection is a chance for the virus to grow and mutate.
    — Dr. Genevieve Yang, ABC News, 3 June 2022
  • The virus is mutating now at a more constant rate, akin to the pace of evolution of the flu virus, Dr. Lessler said.
    — Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2023
  • Rapid tests actually look for a part of the virus that is less likely to mutate and dodge the tests.
    — Akshay Syal, M.d., NBC News, 13 Jan. 2024
  • In a reservoir, the virus can mutate and emerge as different strains.
    — Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Apr. 2022
  • Together, their goal is to mutate all of the animals in the world and take over the Earth as the prominent species.
    — Amanda Luberto, The Arizona Republic, 2 Aug. 2023
  • In plain English that means spots that don’t mutate from variant to variant, so the mabs can still lock on.
    — Josh Fischman, Scientific American, 11 Oct. 2022
  • The second option is for the virus to mutate within a dense group of animals.
    — Evan Bush, NBC News, 11 Feb. 2023
  • That's who continues to be a host to a virus that will continue to mutate.
    — Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press, 11 Jan. 2022
  • There’s always the potential that the virus will mutate and become more of a risk to humans.
    — Annie Berman, Anchorage Daily News, 14 May 2023
  • In the memoirs, the Biden code can mutate into a kind of cryptography.
    — Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2023
  • The genes for the proteins in this pathway are mutated in at least 30% of human cancers.
    — Quanta Magazine, 16 Apr. 2024
  • Scientists warn the virus could mutate to spread from person to person like the seasonal flu, which could spark a pandemic.
    — Tony Leys and Amy Maxmen, USA TODAY, 26 May 2024
  • However, flu viruses evolve, and H5N1 could mutate and gain the ability to infect people more easily.
    — Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 9 July 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mutate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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