Mutations

Question 1

What are mutations?

Answer 1

A change to the nucleotide sequence of DNA or RNA

Question 2

What are some basic facts about mutations? (3)

Answer 2

• Mutations are random
• It allows adaptation to the environment
• Mostly harmful, sometimes neutral, rarely beneficial

Question 3

What are the three mutations based on the change to the nucleotide sequence? And what are they?

Answer 3

Substitution: Changing one or more nucleotides for the same number of new nucleotide
Deletion: When one or more nucleotides are removed from the sequence
Insertion: When one or more nucleotides are added to the sequence

Question 4

What are the three mutations based on the effects on the protein’s amino acid sequence? And what are they?

Answer 4

Silent mutation: When the amino acid sequence is unchanged
Missence mutation: When the amino acid sequence does change
Nonsence mutation: When the mutation creates a premature stop codon