Table of Contents
Would the DNA be the same in any cell in the human body?
Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).
How does a mutation in DNA affect the way proteins are made?
Sometimes, gene variants (also known as mutations) prevent one or more proteins from working properly. By changing a gene’s instructions for making a protein, a variant can cause a protein to malfunction or to not be produced at all.
Why does every cell have the same DNA?
Almost all of the cells in your body share the same DNA as was found in that first cell*. This information is stored in the over 20,000 human genes found in almost all your cells. To get at the information, a gene must be turned on (expressed) and the information turned into something useful, a protein.
Is every gene in every cell?
Your genes are inside almost every cell in your body. Each gene contains instructions that tell your cells to make proteins. Proteins perform all sorts of different tasks in your cells such as making eye pigments, powering muscles, and attacking invading bacteria.
Does every cell contain all DNA?
All living things have DNA within their cells. In fact, nearly every cell in a multicellular organism possesses the full set of DNA required for that organism. However, DNA does more than specify the structure and function of living things — it also serves as the primary unit of heredity in organisms of all types.
What happens when DNA is mutated?
A mutation may change a trait in a way that may even be helpful, such as enabling an organism to better adapt to its environment. The simplest mutation is a point mutation. This occurs when one nucleotide base is substituted for another in a DNA sequence. The change can cause the wrong amino acid to be produced.
Which mutations have the biggest effect on the protein?
The most serious of these mutations will be the insertion of 2 bases. Becasue the genetic code is read in triplets, a 2 base insetion will alter the reading frame of the code causing a frameshift mutation meaning every amino acid after the site of the mutation will be incorrect.