Download Mutations Practice Sheet

Advanced Biology II
Mutations Practice Sheet
Mutations
1. Examine the following genetic codes closely. What type of mutation are you seeing in the second code?
Why will this be a problem?
ATCCCGAGCTTAC

ATCGAGCTTAC
2. Examine the following genetic codes closely. What type of mutation are you seeing in the second code?
How many amino acids will be produced incorrectly? Will this be a problem?
GACTACGCATG

GACTACGCAGT
3. Examine the following genetic codes closely. What type of mutation are you seeing in the second code?
How many amino acids will be produced incorrectly? Will this be a problem?
ATCCCGAGCTTAC

ATCCTCGAGCTTAC
4. Examine the following genetic codes, the second of which has a mutation. What type of mutation are
you seeing (be specific, and be careful!)? How many proteins will be produced incorrectly?
CGGGCTAGCTAG

CGGGCCTAG
5. Which is worse: an insertion of an extra base, or a substitution of the wrong base? Why?
6. Which do you think would be more damaging: an error in DNA, RNA, or protein? Why?
Rate of Mutation
7. Current estimates say that DNA in a human consists of about 3 billion bases arranged into 25,000 genes.
If this is true, is every person likely to have a mutation in their genetic code?
8. 1 in how many humans are likely to have a mutation? (Think about the basic rate of mutation).
Impacts of Mutations
9. List the three results a mutation can have.
10. Which of the three results of a mutation is most common? Why?
11. Explain why neutral mutations will only be acted on by genetic drift, and not natural selection.
Mutations and Evolution
12. Why are mutations referred to as the fundamental source of evolution?
13. Explain how mutations and natural selection work together to create new traits in populations.
14. Describe how a mutation might lead to two species diverging from a common ancestor, as might have
occurred between apes and humans, or fish and amphibians.