Most of the DNA that suffers random mutations is non-coding DNA. It's completely unknown what effects, if any, modifying non-coding DNA might have as its use is unknown. I find it interesting that although anyone can experiment with CRISPR in their living room using something like this http://www.the-odin.com/ that no one has just tried modifying the non-coding DNA a lot and then observed any changes (or lack thereof…
Its been a few years since I left the genetics world behind, and I was just a sysadmin, but even then I'm pretty sure they had determined non coding regions to play a vital role in protein formation/folding.
It's possible that upstream UTRs impact RNA transcription rates, but I'd be surprised if UTRs mediate protein folding.