What is an insertion mutation?
1 Answer
An insertion mutation is when extra DNA bases are added to a gene sequence in the DNA.
Explanation:
An insertion mutation is when by accident extra DNA bases are added to the DNA. The insertion changes drastically the nature of the proteins produced by the DNA chain.
The addition of extra DNA disrupts the reading frame of DNA resulting in the wrong amino acids being produced. The disruption can cause the changing of the DNA informational code on a codon ( the three DNA sequence that codes for the amino acids and information) from producing an amino acid to the information code for the ending or stoping of the reading for further amino acids causing the protein to be shorter than normal
Some theorists propose that insertion mutation are a means of increasing the information and complexity of the DNA required for Descent with Modification known as Darwinian evolution. Insertion mutations do increase the amount of DNA. More DNA however does not necessarily increase information
Insertion mutations cause the production of the wrong amino acids, cause early termination of the amino acid chain ( protein), and change highly structured information stored in the DNA to nonsense producing non functional proteins.
