Types of Mutations

Insertions are another method of a mutation occurrence in which extra base pairs are inserted into a new section of a DNA strand. So, for example, in a strand of DNA consisting of the sequence “ACCTGGA”, an insertion may cause the strand to then appear as “ACCGTATGGA.” The insertion of the “GTA” is a mutation in this scenario. A deletion, on the other hand, occurs when a particular section of a strand of DNA is deleted and removed. For instance, a deletion in the sequence “ACCTGGA” might then become “ACCTA” after the deletion of “GG”. The final form of a mutation is referred to as a frameshift mutation. Frameshift mutations are mutations in which an insertion or deletion causes a gene to no longer be comprehensible. At the level of the DNA strand, the incorrect sequence of codons could lead the gene to become incomprehensible. This goes to show just how significant one minor change in genetic sequencing can be.