DNA Q! What if....?

Incorrect base pairing does happen in mutations caused by chemical agents. If you were to look at the structures of the nitrogenous bases they have the same basic structures so it would not be hard to convert one base into another and create incorrect pairing that way and sometimes some chemicals alter the way hydrogen bonding takes place in DNA leading adenine to bind with cytosine and etc. The gene probably will be dysfunctional.

for more information: http://student.ccbcmd.edu/courses/bio141/lecguide/...

Polymerase would totally go in an handle that pesky little problem during gene replication. But if it "missed" the mistake, then there would be a mutation that more than likely wouldn't be passed along more than one generation because the copy would be a complement of the original and not even be affected by the initial mismatch.

Yes a mutation could happen... It could have a negative change, no change, or a beneficial change. There are three ways a mutation can happen: Deletion, Substitution, and Addition. However, there is a low chance of a mutation because a certain type of enzyme constantly is "patrolling" your DNA looking for mistakes to fix."