Which of the following would result in a non-functional protein?

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Correct Answer: C. a nonsense mutation
A silent mutation often occurs in the wobble site of the codon on the mRNA strand. For most codons, if the third base pair is changed, the correct amino acid can still be made. A missense mutation results in the addition of an incorrect amino acid, but can still lead to a functional protein. Nonsense mutations result in a polypeptide chain that is shorter and is non-functional. For nonsense mutations, an insertion or deletion of a nucleotide base creates a premature stop codon (UGA, UAG, or UAA), terminating translation before the polypeptide can be completed. Transfer mutation is not an accurate term in biology.
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