All of the statements except one are true about mutations. which statement is false?
a) mutations must be present in parents and then passed to offspring.
b) mutations can be positive and produce organisms with improved traits.
c) mutations can be fatal to the organism that has a mutation, if the mutation is in a critical gene.
d) mutations can be silent, and not affect the organism that has them, if the mutation is in a non-critical area.

A is false

Explanation:

Mutation is a change that occurs in the DNA nucleotide sequence either due to mistakes when DNA is copied during cell division or as a result of environmental factors e.g. UV radiation.

Since all the cells of an organism contains DNA, there are lots of places mutation can occur. However, some mutations are not passed from parents to offsprings and do not matter for evolution. This form of mutation is called Somatic or acquired mutation and it occurs in non-reproductive cells. Hence, won't be passed down from parents to offsprings. This form of mutation majorly occurs when DNA cells get replicated during mitosis or when the cell is exposed to harsh environmental factors that damages DNA strands e.g Ultraviolet radiation.

Mutations are only hereditary i.e can be passed down from parents to offsprings, if they occur in reproductive cells (sperms and eggs). This kind of mutation is called Germ-line mutation.

According to the question, mutations must not always occur in the parents before an offsprings DNA undergoes mutation.

transcription is a process in which information is rewritten. it is something our cells must do, in a more specialized and narrowly defined way. in biology, transcription is the process of copying out the dna sequence of a gene in the similar alphabet of rna. it needs to happen in the nucleus because that's where the dna is. dna is always inside the nucleus unless the cell is dividing.

transcription is the first step in gene expression, which involves copying a gene's dna sequence to make an rna molecule. transcription is performed by rna polymerases. it has three stages: initiation, elongation, and termination. rna molecules must be processed after transcription in eukaryotes.

explanation:

long version:

the protein synthesis consists two processes which are, transcription and translation. transcription takes place in the nucleus. it uses dna as a template to make an rna molecule. rna then leaves the nucleus and goes to a ribosome in the cytoplasm, where translation occurs. transcription is the first part of the central dogma of molecular biology: dna → rna. it is the transfer of genetic instructions in dna to messenger rna (mrna). during transcription, a strand of mrna is made that is complementary to a strand of dna.  

these three stages are:

  initiation: in which   is the beginning of transcription.occuring when the enzyme rna polymerase binds to a region of a gene called the promoter. this signals the dna to unwind so the enzyme can ‘‘read’’ the bases in one of the dna strands. the enzyme is now ready to make a strand of mrna with a complementary sequence of bases.

    elongation: in which is the addition of nucleotides to the mrna strand. rna polymerase reads the unwound dna strand and builds the mrna molecule, using complementary base pairs. there is a brief time during this process when the newly formed rna is bound to the unwound dna. during this process, an adenine (a) in the dna binds to an uracil (u) in the rna.

    termination: in which is the ending of transcription, and occurs when rna polymerase crosses a stop (termination) sequence in the gene. the mrna strand is complete, and it detaches from dna.