Question

1. prima and ali want to add a sign next to their art to explain the differences in their two protein models. they want people visiting the school to understand how the models represent how mutations in dna can affect proteins and traits. they make a sign explaining how they used carla’s directions as dna, and how these directions helped them to make the model proteins. then they add the following labels to each row. all’s row: mutations in the dna affected the shape of this protein. in the normal protein, all of the parts are represented as squares. the parts of the protein that changed in shape are represented by the red circle and the white circle. prima’s row: mutations in the dna changed the shape of this protein. the normal protein has 10 squares, but mutations resulted in a shorter than normal protein. which of the following statements could they add to their labels? a. these protein changes will definitely have a negative effect on the organism. b. these models show that mutations always affect an organism’s traits. c. these protein changes might or might not cause an organism’s traits to change. d. prima’s protein model reflects more mutations than ali’s protein model.

Explanation:

• Option A is incorrect because not all protein changes from mutations are negative; some can be neutral or even beneficial.
• Option B is incorrect because mutations do not always affect traits—some are silent and do not alter protein function or observable traits.
• Option C is correct because changes in protein shape or length may or may not lead to a noticeable change in an organism's traits, depending on the protein's role and the nature of the change.
• Option D is incorrect because the models only show different types of mutation effects (shape change vs. truncation), not the number of mutations.

Answer:

C. These protein changes might or might not cause an organism's traits to change.