Changing the third nucleotide in a base pattern typically results in what outcome?

When examining the impact of changing the third nucleotide in a codon, it is often associated with the concept of "wobble," which refers to the flexibility in base pairing at the third position of a codon. The genetic code is degenerate; this means that multiple codons can code for the same amino acid. Specifically, for many amino acids, there are several codons that differ in their first and second nucleotides but have the same third nucleotide.

Because of this redundancy, altering the third nucleotide frequently results in no change to the amino acid that is incorporated during protein synthesis, leading to a situation known as a silent mutation. This means that the protein's sequence, and therefore its overall function, remains unaffected by this specific nucleotide change.

As a result, changing the third nucleotide in a base pattern usually has no significant effect due to the wobble effect, allowing for some degree of flexibility without disrupting protein function.