100%(1)100% fanden dieses Dokument nützlich (1 Abstimmung)
2K Ansichten1 Seite
Point mutations are chemical changes in just one base pair of a gene. Mutations can also be caused by mutagens which interact with DNA. Mutagens can cause incorrect base-pairing during DNA replication.
Point mutations are chemical changes in just one base pair of a gene. Mutations can also be caused by mutagens which interact with DNA. Mutagens can cause incorrect base-pairing during DNA replication.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Verfügbare Formate
Als DOC, PDF, TXT herunterladen oder online auf Scribd lesen
Point mutations are chemical changes in just one base pair of a gene. Mutations can also be caused by mutagens which interact with DNA. Mutagens can cause incorrect base-pairing during DNA replication.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Verfügbare Formate
Als DOC, PDF, TXT herunterladen oder online auf Scribd lesen
I. In what ways can genetic information be altered?
A. Genetic information can be altered in many ways such as an error in mitosis or meiosis; however, most of these alterations occur because of mutations. One type of mutation is point mutations, which are chemical changes in just one base pair of a gene. If a point mutation occurs in a gamete or in a cell that gives rise to gametes, it may be transmitted to offspring and to a succession of future generations. If the mutation has an adverse effect on the phenotype of a human or other animal, the mutant condition is referred to as a genetic disorder, or hereditary disease. Some different types of point mutations are base-pair substitutions and insertions and deletions. Mutations can also be caused by mutagens which interact with DNA to cause mutations. II. What are some of the effects of these alterations? A. Base- pair substitution is the replacement of one nucleotide and its partner in the complementary DNA strand with another pair of nucleotides. Some substitutions are called silent mutations because, owing to the redundancy of the genetic code, they have no effect on the encoded protein. Substitutions are usually missense mutations; this means that the altered codon still makes sense, even if it’s not completely right. However, nonsense mutations are where a codon is turned into a stop codon, which will lead to a shorter polypeptide than is originally supposed to be encoded. This leads to nonfunctional proteins. B. Insertions and deletions are additions or losses of nucleotide pairs in a gene. These mutations have a disastrous effect on the resulting protein more often than substitutions. Because mRNA is read as a series of nucleotide triplets during translation, the insertion or deletion of the nucleotides may alter the reading frame of the genetic message. This is called a frameshift mutation. Unless the frameshift is very near the end of the gene, it will produce a protein that is almost certain to be nonfunctional. C. Mutagens can cause incorrect base-pairing during DNA replication, interfere with correct DNA replications by inserting themselves into the DNA and distorting the double helix, and still other mutagens cause chemical changes in bases that change their pairing properties. III. Describe 2 diseases affecting humans that are covered in your textbook which are caused by mutations. A. One disease that is caused by mutations is cancer. Cancer usually occurs only after many mutations. However, one of the main things which onsets cancer is a mutation in proto-oncogenes which help control cell growth and division. When a proto-oncogene has mutated, it is called an oncogene. When this happens, cell growth and division are affected in mainly two ways. First, either the ras gene becomes hyperactive which leads to excessive cell division, or the tumor-suppressor gene (p53 gene) is rendered useless. B. Another disease caused by mutations is sickle-cell disease. This can be caused by the change of a single nucleotide in the DNA’s templates strand, which ultimately leads to the production of an abnormal protein. Individuals who are homozygous for the mutant allele, the sickling of red blood cells cause by the altered hemoglobin produces the multiple symptoms associated with sickle-cell disease.
Beyond DNA: From Cellular Mechanisms to Environmental Factors: How Epigenetics Shapes Our Biological Destiny and its Implications for Health, Behavior, and the Future of Research