 Frameshift mutation

A frameshift mutation changes downstream grouping into codons through insertion or deletion of a number of nucleotides not divisible by three. In the constructed messenger RNA example, insert C immediately after AUG while retaining the same initiation position: $\mathrm{AUG}\mathrm{CGC}\mathrm{UUU}\mathrm{CUG}(\mathrm{A})$. The first codon is preserved, but the original downstream groups GCU, UUC and UGA disappear. The displayed fragment now has no complete standard stop codon; what happens later depends on its continuation.

The short proof is positional: every downstream nucleotide moves by $k$ positions after an insertion of length $k$. Boundaries recur every three positions, so they retain the original phase exactly when $k$ is divisible by three. An insertion of three nucleotides can still change the peptide, but it does not shift the downstream reading frame. This distinction helps interpret genetic variants without predicting a particular phenotype from grouping alone.^[ref]