🧬 Intro to Gene Mutations Imagine DNA as a super-stable book, written in a secret code. Each page of the book represents a gene, and every letter is crucial to understand the story. However, sometimes a naughty elf switches letters, adds extra ones, or even removes some. These changes are called gene mutations.

📌 Key Point: Gene mutations are random changes to genes at the DNA level. Don't confuse them with changes made by scientists in labs; those are deliberate!

• 🔄 Substitution

  • What happens? A letter (base) in the DNA story is replaced by another.
  • For instance: Adenine (A) might be switched to Cytosine (C), Guanine (G), or Thymine (T).
  • Why does it occur? It can be due to chemical changes or mistakes during the DNA copying process.
  • Real-world example: Think of it like autocorrect on your phone. Sometimes it swaps a letter and changes the meaning of the word. "G to T" mispairing can lead to a "G to A" or "T to C" substitution.

• ➕ Insertion

  • What happens? An extra letter (nucleotide) is added to the DNA story.
  • Imagine reading a book, and a random word suddenly appears in the middle of a sentence. It might change the plot entirely!
  • It's a significant change, like adding a chapter to a book, because it means breaking the spine (sugar-phosphate backbone) to add more content.

• ➖ Deletion

  • What happens? A letter is removed from the DNA story.
  • It's like erasing a word from your favorite song's lyrics; it could change the tune.
  • This requires two breaks in our book's spine.
  • Real-world example: Deleting an app icon from your phone's homepage. Everything shifts!
• 🎯 Note: Both insertions and deletions can happen multiple times in a row, like adding or removing whole paragraphs or chapters!