The functionality of a protein is highly dependent on its structure.[5] Changing a single amino acid in a protein may reduce its ability to carry out this function, or the mutation may even change the function that the protein carries out.[3] Changes like these may severely impact a crucial function in a cell, potentially causing the cell — and in extreme cases, the organism — to die.[6] Conversely, the change may allow the cell to continue functioning albeit differently, and the mutation can be passed on to the organism's offspring. If this change does not result in any significant physical disadvantage to the offspring, the possibility exists that this mutation will persist within the population. The possibility also exists that the change in function becomes advantageous.