Proteins are important architectural and catalytic components within the cell, helping to determine its chemistry, its shape, an
d its ability to respond to changes in the environment. Remarkably, all of the different proteins in a cell are made from the same 20 __________. By linking them in different sequences, the cell can make protein molecules with different conformations and surface chemistries, and therefore different functions.
Insertions are mutations in which extra base pairs are inserted into a new place in the DNA. Deletions are mutations in which a section of DNA is lost, or deleted..
Germline mutations occur in gametes. Somatic mutations occur in other body cells.
Chromosomal alterations are mutations that change chromosome structure.
Point mutations change a single nucleotide.
Frameshift mutations are additions or deletions of nucleotides that cause a shift in the reading frame.
Deletion is a type of mutation involving the loss of genetic material. It can be small, involving a single missing DNA base pair, or large, involving a piece of a chromosome.
Base substitutions are the simplest type of gene-level mutation, and they involve the swapping of one nucleotide for another during DNA replication. For example, during replication, a thymine nucleotide might be inserted in place of a guanine nucleotide.
Silent mutations are base substitutions that result in no change of the amino acid or amino acid functionality when the altered messenger RNA (mRNA) is translated. For example, if the codon AAA is altered to become AAG, the same amino acid – lysine – will be incorporated into the peptide chain..
