Jack and Jill go up a hill that has high levels of gamma radiation emission. Jack suffers 10 point mutational events in a noncoding region, and Jill suffers only one frameshift mutation in the insulin gene-coding region of all her pancreatic beta cells. What are the possible and probable outcomes of these events for both people?
A)Jack will have major deficiencies in the production of 10 proteins; Jill will have reduced insulin activity.
B)Jack will have less functional proteins and an increased risk for cancer; Jill will have type 2 diabetes mellitus.
C)Jack will have few, if any, effects on protein synthesis but will have more personal DNA markers; Jill will not produce any functional insulin and will have type 1 diabetes mellitus.
D)Jack will not have any change in protein synthesis or function; Jill will have an increased risk for developing type 1 diabetes mellitus and can pass this risk on to her children.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

It is most likely that the mutational events in a noncoding region will not interfere with correct reading of any genes. These changes in the noncoding regions can make Jack's DNA more identifiable. With Jill having a frameshift mutation in the gene-coding region, it is likely that she will not be able to produce functional insulin and will have type 1 diabetes mellitus, requiring insulin replacement. Because this large mutational event (all the pancreatic beta cells) is occurring only in somatic cells, Jill cannot pass this problem on to her children.

Jack and Jill Go Up a Hill That Has High