A gene mutation is a change in the sequence of nucleotides that occurs during cell replication (mitosis and meiosis)within a sin
gle coding section of DNA. Mistakes can also occur in the transcription of mRNA or the translation of a polypeptide. However these changes are not considered to be mutations because they are not permanent changes to the cell.True / False.
Changes in the transcription of mRNA or the translation of a polypeptide are not considered to be mutations because they are not permanent changes to the cell.
Explanation:
The half-life of mRNA and proteins is short. mRNA has an average of 10 hours of life span while proteins have an average of several days. Therefore mutation in these biomolecules will only persist as long as this mutated mRNA of protein exists. After its life-span, the molecule is degraded and replaced by a non-mutated mRNA or proteins. This is because the piece of DNA that codes for the mRNA and subsequent protein is not mutated. A mutation on DNA is the permanent kind of mutations because DNA is a highly stable molecule that stores information about the cell.
