Frameshift

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  frameshift \frame"shift\, a. (Genetics)
     of, pertaining to, or causing a type of mutation consisting
     of the insertion or deletion of one or more nucleotides in
     the nucleic acid structure of a gene, when the number of base
     pairs inserted or deleted is not a multiple of three. If the
     addition or deletion occurs in multiples of three, the


     unaffected nucleotides in the genome remain in the proper
     order ("frame") to be correctly translated into protein; in
     such cases of insertions or deletions not causing a frame
     shift, a functional though altered protein may be produced by
     the organism. Frameshift mutations cause more profound
     changes in the composition of the protein resulting from
     translation of the mutated gene.
     [PJC]