Final answer:
The statement that frameshift mutations can be caused by intercalating agents is true. These chemical agents distort DNA structure during replication, leading to insertions or deletions that change the reading frame.
Step-by-step explanation:
Frameshift mutations in genomic DNA can indeed be caused by intercalating agents, so the answer to your question is True. During the DNA replication process, intercalating agents such as ethidium bromide and acridine can slide between adjacent base pairs in the DNA helix, distorting its structure. This abnormal spacing may cause DNA polymerase to either skip bases, resulting in a deletion, or to incorporate extra bases, leading to an insertion. Both types of errors lead to a shift in the reading frame of the DNA sequence, which is referred to as a frameshift mutation. These mutations can have significant consequences for the resulting protein because they alter the triplet codon reading frame, which can change amino acid sequences or introduce premature stop codons.