Explain, using a specific example, the potential consequences of the production of a mutant protein to the str?

Mutations actually happen in the DNA, which codes for the protein. If the mutation is conservative (ex. Ile to Leu = both hydrophobic and similar size), then there may not be a change in protein shape or function. However, if the mutation is not conservative (ex. Met to Asp = hydrophobic small to acidic large), then the proteins shape and function could change. For example, in the case of HIV resistance, all human immune cells have a CCR5 receptor, which is one of the ways that HIV attaches. In some humans, however, we see a deletion of 32 nucleotides in the CCR5 gene, which causes both a frameshift mutation and loss of a critical domain of the protein. This makes it so that HIV cannot attach to immunocytes as easily and so infection is slowed.