What is the impact of a frame-shift mutation on protein synthesis?

A frame-shift mutation results from the insertion or deletion of nucleotides in a DNA sequence that is not a multiple of three. This alteration shifts the reading frame of the genetic code during translation, leading to a completely different sequence of amino acids being incorporated into the growing polypeptide chain. The consequence of this shift is typically significant, as it can produce a nonfunctional protein, a truncated protein due to a premature stop codon, or even a protein with entirely altered properties. Consequently, the likelihood of an altered amino acid sequence due to a frame-shift mutation is quite high, making this choice the most accurate representation of the mutation's impact on protein synthesis.

In contrast, mutations that have no impact, ensure the correct protein is produced, or result in increased protein stability generally pertain to other types of mutations, such as silent mutations, missense mutations that still produce functional proteins, or stabilizing point mutations, and do not apply to the disruptive nature of frame-shift mutations.