In multicellular organisms, mutations can be classed as either somatic or germ-line according to the type of cell in which the mutation occurs

• Somatic mutations occur in a single body cell and cannot be inherited (only tissues derived from mutated cell are affected)
  

• Germline mutations occur in gametes and can be passed onto offspring (every cell in the entire organism will be affected)

Somatic mutations will often give rise to cancers (uncontrolled cell proliferation), whereas germline mutations can cause a myriad of inheritable genetic diseases

Somatic vs Germline Mutations