Nucleotide Mutations Research Paper

Words: 650
Pages: 3

Genetic mutations are changes in the genetic code. These changes can cause different illnesses in humans and animals. These changes can have extremely noticeable effects, or effects that do not change anything. Most everyone has a genetic mutation of some kind, even if it is unnoticeable. There are two types of genetic mutations. Nucleotide and chromosomal are the two types. There are three types of nucleotide mutations, and five types of chromosomal mutations. The changes that are caused by the two are different. They both affect different parts of the DNA, causing different changes. There are 3 types of nucleotide mutations: insertion, substitution, and deletion. Nucleotide mutations occur when the nitrogen bases become mismatched. A …show more content…
It is inserted into the incorrect place, causing transcription to be thrown off. Insertion causes a base to be left by itself at the end of the DNA strand. Insertion causes all of the bases in front of the mismatched base to shift. tRNA codes for amino acids in groups of three, so one base is left without a group. Substitution is caused by a correct base being taken out, and the incorrect base being substituted into the DNA strand. While insertion changes multiple amino acids along a strand of DNA, substitution only affects one amino acid. It changes one base, so it only affects the amino acid group of which the base is a part. This change in amino acids causes problems for the affected individual due to the production of the incorrect acid.. However, there is a circumstance where a nitrogen base changes, but it does not change the amino acid coding.
Deletion is self-explanatory. A base is taken out along the strand of DNA. Things get thrown off in this mutation the same way they do in an insertion mutation. The whole strand in front of the affected base is moved. Again, since amino acids are coded for in groups of three, it causes problems with the coding. Two uncoded bases are left over at the end of the strand of DNA when a deletion mutation occurs. So this causes the incorrect amino acids to be created, and it leaves two bases at the end of the
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Insertion and deletion are called frame shift mutations. They get their name from the fact that they shift a large part the strand. Substitution is called a point mutation. It is called this because it happens on a certain point on the strand, rather than on a large part of the strand. Chromosomal mutations are caused by a problem on a nucleotide. There a five types of chromosomal mutations. The five types are: non-disjunction, translocation, inversion, and deletion. Chromosomes can become messed up during meiosis. Most genetic diseases people know about are chromosomal. Some examples of chromosomal mutations are Down’s syndrome, Edward’s Syndrome, and Cri-du-Chat. Non-disjunction is when chromosomes are not divided properly during meiosis. It results in there being one more, or less, chromosomes than needed. When a chromosome is added, it is a trisomy. When one is missing, it is called a monosomy. Non-disjunctions is a cause for some of the most well-known genetic diseases. (Genetic Mutations - Genetics and Evolution. (2002). Retrieved November 13, 2015, from