Genetic change involves a modification to an organism’s genetic material, such as a change to its genome - the complete set of genes belonging to a particular species. It is an evolutionary response to the environment and occurs over time, sometimes through phenotypic change - the physical manifestation of a trait or characteristic. Ultimately, it is an alteration to the genetic code that can manifest itself in various ways - an increased likelihood of surviving and reproducing, a modified behaviour, a unique feature of an animal, or even a completely new species.

See also: natural selection, right hemisphere, left hemisphere, brain damage, split brain