Questions on Mutation (Molecular Biology)
Multiple Choice Questions: Mutation (Molecular Biology)
1. What is a mutation?
A) A change in protein structure
B) A chemical that breaks DNA
C) A change in the DNA sequence
D) The replication of RNA
E) A process of transcription
2. Which of the following is a type of point mutation?
A) Deletion of a chromosome
B) Inversion
C) Substitution
D) Duplication
E) Translocation
3. Which mutation changes a codon but does not change the amino acid?
A) Missense
B) Silent
C) Nonsense
D) Frameshift
E) Insertion
4. What is the result of a nonsense mutation?
A) A longer protein
B) A change in the reading frame
C) A stop codon is introduced
D) No change in protein
E) A duplication of DNA
5. A mutation that adds or deletes one or two nucleotides causes a:
A) Missense mutation
B) Nonsense mutation
C) Silent mutation
D) Frameshift mutation
E) Substitution
6. Which of the following is NOT a possible cause of mutation?
A) UV radiation
B) Chemicals
C) DNA polymerase error
D) Transcription
E) Viruses
7. Which type of mutation results in one amino acid being replaced with another?
A) Nonsense
B) Silent
C) Frameshift
D) Missense
E) Synonymous
8. Which of the following is an example of a mutagen?
A) Water
B) Oxygen
C) UV light
D) Glucose
E) ATP
9. What term describes a mutation passed to offspring?
A) Somatic mutation
B) Germline mutation
C) Neutral mutation
D) Regulatory mutation
E) Spontaneous mutation
10. A mutation in a body cell (not passed to offspring) is called a:
A) Germline mutation
B) Hereditary mutation
C) Somatic mutation
D) Genetic mutation
E) Point mutation
11. What is the effect of a frameshift mutation?
A) No effect on protein
B) The entire amino acid sequence after the mutation changes
C) Only one amino acid changes
D) Stops translation
E) Starts translation
12. Which of these is a chromosomal mutation?
A) Substitution
B) Inversion
C) Missense
D) Nonsense
E) Silent
13. Which mutation type involves the reversal of a chromosome segment?
A) Deletion
B) Duplication
C) Inversion
D) Insertion
E) Nonsense
14. How can mutations be beneficial?
A) They never are
B) By reducing protein activity
C) By introducing harmful traits
D) By increasing genetic diversity
E) By silencing genes
15. Which of the following best describes a spontaneous mutation?
A) Caused by chemicals
B) Caused by viruses
C) Caused by radiation
D) Occurs without external influence
E) Occurs during meiosis only
16. Which DNA repair mechanism corrects mismatched base pairs?
A) Photoreactivation
B) Base excision repair
C) Mismatch repair
D) SOS repair
E) Nucleotide repair
17. Which enzyme can proofread and correct DNA during replication?
A) Ligase
B) Helicase
C) DNA polymerase
D) RNA polymerase
E) Primase
18. Which mutation is most likely to be harmful?
A) Silent mutation
B) Missense mutation
C) Nonsense mutation
D) Neutral mutation
E) Germline mutation
19. What is a mutagen?
A) A repair enzyme
B) A gene regulator
C) An agent that causes mutation
D) A protein-coding sequence
E) An anticodon
20. Which type of mutation can be passed to the next generation?
A) Somatic
B) Germline
C) Chromosomal
D) Point
E) Missense
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Answer Key
1. C
2. C
3. B
4. C
5. D
6. D
7. D
8. C
9. B
10. C
11. B
12. B
13. C
14. D
15. D
16. C
17. C
18. C
19. C
20. B
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