Chromosome deletion

Deletion is the loss of a nucleic base or a segment from the DNA strand. Interstitial deletion means loss of fragments within a chromosome in contrast to terminal deletion, where end segments of a chromosome are lost.

As a result, a defective protein can arise from the mRNA after translation. If an entire codon/base triplet is removed, a defective protein will most likely result because an amino acid is missing. If the deletion affects only a single base pair, it is also called a point mutation.