Mutations play an important role in how traits are passed down from parents to their children. Here’s a simple way to understand how mutations affect inherited traits:

1. Types of Mutations:

   • Point Mutations: These are changes in just one part of the DNA, called a nucleotide. They can affect certain traits. For example, a change in the hemoglobin gene can lead to sickle cell anemia, which affects about 1 in 365 African American babies.
   • Insertions and Deletions: Sometimes nucleotides can be added or removed. This can cause something called frameshift mutations, which changes how the whole protein is made. This can lead to different diseases.

2. Dominant vs. Recessive:

   • When there’s a mutation in a dominant allele (a version of a gene), this can cause a trait to show up even if there’s only one copy of it. For example, Huntington's disease, which affects about 1 in 10,000 people.

3. Punnett Squares:

   • Punnett squares are a tool to figure out the chances of kids inheriting mutated traits. For example, if one parent has one dominant allele (represented as $Aa$) and the other parent has two recessive alleles ($aa$), there’s a 50% chance their child will have the affected trait.

In short, mutations are a big part of how genetic differences happen and they help drive evolution.