Genetic Mutations,

• What are mutations?


  Random changes to an organism's DNA
• How can mutations affect proteins?


  They can change the sequence of amino acids in a protein
• What can happen if a mutation changes the shape of an enzyme's active site?


  The substrate may no longer be able to bind to it
• What can mutations in non-coding DNA alter?


  How genes are expressed
• What is an insertion mutation?


  A new base is inserted into the DNA base sequence
• How do insertions affect the reading of the DNA sequence?


  They change the way groups of three bases are read
• What is a deletion mutation?


  A random base is deleted from the DNA base sequence
• How do deletions affect the DNA sequence?


  They change the way the base sequence is read
• What is a substitution mutation?


  A random base is replaced by a different base
• What are mutations?


  Changes to the sequence of bases in DNA.
• What can mutations lead to?


  Changes in the protein that a gene codes for.
• How can mutations affect an organism's phenotype?


  Most mutations have no effect, but some can slightly alter characteristics or create new phenotypes.