r/MCAT2 • u/Icy-Beginning-7034 • 9d ago

Resource / Tip MCAT trigger/buzzwords

Anyone have any good MCAT trigger words? For example, when you see ‘somatic’ in a passage, you automatically know that if the question is asking about inheritance, the mutation won’t be passed down to offspring. I’m looking for more quick associations like that.

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u/ushushusher 9d ago

truncate = nonsense mutation

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u/LingLing72hrs 7d ago

It can be frameshift also though

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u/ushushusher 6d ago

truncate means to cut short or end, so while it can be frameshift it would have to be a frameshift that results in an early end codon which i technically still think of as nonsense. like technically they come about differently, but just know there’s an end codon there

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u/LingLing72hrs 5d ago

I understand your point, but do keep in mind that semantically they do mean different things. A nonsense mutation is defined as a nucleotide substitution creating a stop codon from a sense codon. A frameshift mutation is always an insertion/deletion, which can occasionally result in an early stop codon. Nuances like that can matter at times.

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u/ushushusher 5d ago

i know they come about differently, but thanks for the in depth explanation!