The Atacama Desert, a 1000km stretch of parched wasteland, separates it from Peru to the north. And to the west, only a few islands dotted in the Pacific Ocean break the waves that roll onto Chileâs coast from Australasia.
What is a mutation? A mutation is a change that occurs in our DNA sequence, either due to mistakes when the DNA is copied or as the result of environmental factors such as UV light and cigarette smoke.
A mutation is a change in the base sequence of DNA that can affect the structure and function of proteins when they occur within a gene. Mutations can be spontaneously caused by copying errors during DNA replication or induced by exposure to external elements such as chemical mutagens, radiation or viruses. Cystic fibrosis is an example of a disease which can result from a nonsense mutation (this may not be the only cause though). 2  Frameshift mutations occur when the addition or removal of a base alters the reading frame of the gene.