Gene Mutations

Mutations & Substitutions

A change in the genetic info of a cell

Point mutations

changes in just one nucleotide pair gene

Can lead to the production of an abnormal protein

Nucleo-pair substitution

replaces one nucleotide and its partner with another pair of nucleotide

Silent mutations

have no effect on the amino acid produced by a codon because of redundancy

Missense mutations

still code for an amino acid, but not the correct amino acid

Nonsense mutations

change an amino acid codon into a stop codon; most lead to a nonfunctional protein

Frameshift mutation

inserting and deleting nucleotide pairs in a gene = disaster

Mutagens are

physical or chemical agents that can cause mutations

carcinogens

cancer causing, most of mutagens are carcinogenic