A framing error is the result of reading a string of symbols which are grouped in blocks starting at the wrong point.
In communication, the symbols are bits and the blocks are bytes, ten bits in asynchronous transmission and eight in synchronous. A framing error in an asynchronous stream usually recovers quickly, but a framing error in a synchronous stream produces gibberish to the end of the packet. Framing errors can be detected with parity bits.
In genetics, framing errors (also known as frameshifts) result from mutations that insert or delete extra nucleic acids into a DNA sequence. This is due to the grouping of three nucleic acids into codons, which are the basis for translation of DNA into amino acid sequence (protein). The insertion/deletion of nucleic acids can disrupt the grouping of the codons, resulting in a completely different translation from the original. This could result in an altered or truncated protein. Interestingly, some organisms have genes which contain other genes in different framing.
