When does mutation have the greatest effect?
At the short end of the spectrum, indels of one or two base pairs within coding sequences have the greatest effect, because they will inevitably cause a frameshift (only the addition of one or more three-base-pair codons will keep a protein approximately intact).
How do most mutations affect an organism?
When mutations occur they can cause termination (death) of an organism or they can be partially lethal. This means that the organism has difficulty adapting to and surviving in its environment. Mutations are usually the cause of many diseases and defects in an organism’s life.
Which are possible results of a mutation?
Depending on what type of cell is affected by mutation, results can be positive, negative, or neutral. Hereditary diseases, for instance, are a result of a mutated or damaged cell that passes on the mutation to each new cell it creates. Similarly, cancer is the result of malignant growth of mutated cells.
How can mutations be beneficial?
Some genetic mutations can be beneficial to a species, serving a purpose like increasing immunity to a common disease. The introduction of mutation into a species encourages gene pool variations that can result in beneficial adaptations. Negative mutations will often be destroyed through natural selection,…
What can cause DNA to mutate?
Mutations can occur during DNA replication if errors are made and not corrected in time. Mutations can also occur as the result of exposure to environmental factors such as smoking, sunlight and radiation. Often cells can recognize any potentially mutation-causing damage and repair it before it becomes a fixed mutation.
What are the types of protein mutations?
The most recent classification system groups mutations by the problems that they cause in the production of the CFTR protein: Protein production mutations (Class 1) Protein processing mutations (Class 2) Gating mutations (Class 3) Conduction mutations (Class 4) Insufficient protein mutations (Class 5)