Chapter 20, Problem 20.76QP

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

Whether a point mutation or deletion mutation is more likely to be a silent mutation has to be determined.

Concept Introduction:

In messenger RNA, a nucleotide triplet that codes for a specific amino acid is termed as a codon. A codon is significant because if a single base is changed in the codon it can change the amino acid composition or may even result in no protein synthesis at all.

Silent mutations are the mutations that do not affect the amino acid being encoded because the amino acids replaced have similar functions as the amino acid that is substituted.