The diagram shows a strand of mRNA undergoing splicing - Scottish Highers Human Biology - Question 4 - 2022

To find the number of amino acids, we start with the primary transcript's total bases and account for the removed bases. The mature mRNA transcript has:

Total bases = 3150 - 600 = 2550.

Each amino acid is coded by three bases.

Thus, the number of amino acids is:

$\text{Amino Acids} = \frac{2550}{3} = 850$

However, we subtract 1 due to the stop codon, resulting in a total of 848 amino acids.

Alternative RNA splicing.

Alternative splicing allows for different exons to be included or excluded from the final mRNA transcript. As a result, different combinations of exons can code for various proteins. This variation leads to a diversity of proteins that can perform different functions, even though they originate from the same gene.

The mutation has resulted in the retention of at least one intron within the mature mRNA transcript, meaning not all introns have been removed.

The protein will likely not fold properly due to the presence of extra bases that were part of the intron. This abnormal sequence could affect the protein's shape and length, possibly leading to a nonfunctional protein.