[williamjennings]

I read the headline and wondered:

"Since when is 'Bad Luck' anything other than a euphemism for the physiological stress which is symptomatic of poverty?"

Clever science journalists note that nearly everything outside of the organism can be generically labeled as the environment.

__As a reply to DanBC:__

>normal random mutation

This phrase does not mean anything in terms of molecular biology or genetics. It is equivalent to "Bad Luck", or "mutation triggered by something". The phrase is inappropriate because it equates point mutations, insertion mutations and deletion mutations.

As a rule, when thou wants to say the modifier "normal random"; thou should instead say "normally distributed", and then make sure that is worth mentioning in that field of science.

[DanBC]

In this specific case: "bad luck" was being used to talk about normal random mutation, as opposed to a genetic predisposition or a mutation triggered by something you ate or drank or smoked or otherwse exposed yourself.

It's unfortunate that the original researchers used that phrase; and the the reporters did a terrible job of explaining it; and that the reporting of this newer study uses similar language.