Question

In figure 20.11, imagine that the recombinant dna is inserted in the middle of an exon of a human gene that encodes a protein. how is the function of the human gene most likely to be affected and why?

Answer 1

If recombinant DNA is inserted into an exon that codes for a protein, that protein will be expressed with the extra inserted nucleotides. The protein, more than likely, will not be functional. If the insertion is not a multiple of three nucleotides, it will cause a frameshift and change the amino acid sequence downstream of the insertion. The insertion can also contain a stop codon, which will stop translation at that point.