What happens when DNA pairs are mismatched?

In mismatch repair, mistakes that happen during DNA replication are recognized, cut out and replaced. This mismatched base pair causes a point mutation, which you can think of as a typo in the DNA sequence of the new strand.

What would happen if one of the bases on DNA was wrong?

When replication mistakes are not corrected, they may result in mutations, which sometimes can have serious consequences. Point mutations, one base substituted for another, can be silent (no effect) or may have effects ranging from mild to severe.

What would happen if one of the nucleotides in DNA got switched with another?

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. In some cases, the change has little effect. In other cases, the incorrect amino acid can affect the structure or function of the protein being encoded.

What mistakes can occur when DNA is replicated?

DNA replication is a highly accurate process, but mistakes can occasionally occur, such as a DNA polymerase inserting a wrong base. Uncorrected mistakes may sometimes lead to serious consequences, such as cancer.

What would happen if nucleotides paired up randomly?

DNA polymerase is an enzyme that joins individual nucleotides to produce a new strand of DNA. If it didn’t exist, and nucleotides paired up randomly, then the process would be disorganized and not flow evenly. Briefly describe what happens during replication.

What causes mismatched base pairs?

Mismatches are commonly due to tautomerization of bases during DNA replication. The damage is repaired by recognition of the deformity caused by the mismatch, determining the template and non-template strand, and excising the wrongly incorporated base and replacing it with the correct nucleotide.

How does DNA avoid or correct the mistakes during the process?

Most of the mistakes during DNA replication are promptly corrected by DNA polymerase by proofreading the base that has just been added (Figure 1). In proofreading, the DNA pol reads the newly added base before adding the next one, so a correction can be made.

What happens when DNA changes?

When a gene mutation occurs, the nucleotides are in the wrong order which means the coded instructions are wrong and faulty proteins are made or control switches are changed. The body can’t function as it should. Mutations can be inherited from one or both parents. They are present in the egg and/ or sperm cells.

How changing one nucleotide within a DNA molecule of a cell could change the structure of a protein produced by that cell?

Changing the sequence of nucleotides in the DNA molecule can change the amino acids in the final protein, leading to protein malfunction. If insulin does not function correctly, it might be unable to bind to another protein (insulin receptor).

Why is it that DNA has to be replicated extremely accurately with very few errors?

DNA replication is extraordinarily accurate. If a newly added nucleotide is not complementary to the one on the template strand, these enzymes remove the nucleotide and replace it with the correct one. With this system, a cell’s DNA is copied with less than one mistake in a billion nucleotides.

What would happen if the complementary of nucleotides did not exist and nucleotides paired up randomly instead?

What would happen if this complementarity did not exist, and nucleotides paired up randomly instead? The new DNA would not be identical to the original molecule. Two DNA molecules identical to each other and to the original molecule.

How do the nucleotides in DNA pair?

Nucleotides form a pair in a molecule of DNA where two adjacent bases form hydrogen bonds. The nitrogenous bases of the DNA always pair up in specific way, purine with pyrimidine (A with T, G with C), held together by weak hydrogen bonds. The molecule appears as a twisted ladder and is called a double helix.