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Activity (Hands-On)Grades 8 - 10

Mutation Telephone

Two photographs of Whippet dogs. The one on the left is small and lean while the one on the right is large and muscular.A mutation in the gene encoding for the myostatin protein causes extreme muscle growth in some animals, such as the Whippet shown on the right.

Students perform an activity similar to the childhood “telephone” game in which each communication step represents a biological process related to the passage of DNA from one cell to another. This game tangibly illustrates how DNA mutations can happen over several cell generations and the effects the mutations can have on the proteins that cells need to produce. Next, students use the results from the “telephone” game (normal, substitution, deletion or insertion) to test how the mutation affects the survivability of an organism in the wild. Through simple enactments, students act as “predators” and “eat” (remove) the organism from the environment, demonstrating natural selection based on mutation.

Genetic engineers alter the DNA of organisms to change properties or traits by modifying the proteins that are produced from the DNA. These changes take place in a controlled manner to reduce the likelihood of errors occurring, but even being careful is not always enough to prevent mistakes and unwanted results. Sometimes DNA spontaneously mutates when replicating, such as when researchers try to grow many bacteria from a single modified version. It is important to understand how mutations occur and the unintended effects they may have on the outcome of DNA modification. Engineers often use models to simplify complex processes; in this activity, students model how DNA can mutate using an easy-to-understand model that illustrates that errors can occur and where.

After this activity, students should be able to:

  • List the different types of small-scale mutations.
  • Describe when/where mutations occur.
  • Demonstrate how mutations impact organisms.

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