Mutation that does not result in a change to the amino acid sequence of a protein; also called neutral

• A. Mutation
• B. Silent mutation
• C. Gene mutation
• D. Frame-shift mutation

Answer: (B)

Due to the redundancy of the genetic code, several codons can code for the same amino acid. If a mutation changes a codon to another codon that still specifies the same amino acid, the protein’s amino acid sequence remains unchanged. This kind of change is neutral with respect to the protein’s structure and function, and it’s called a silent mutation. For example, a codon for alanine like GCU could change to GCC and still produce alanine, leaving the protein sequence the same. While silent mutations typically don’t affect the protein, they can occasionally influence how efficiently a gene is translated or how stable the mRNA is. The other terms describe broader or more disruptive changes: a general mutation and a gene mutation don’t specify the effect on the amino acid sequence, and a frame-shift mutation alters the reading frame and usually changes many amino acids downstream.