Protein synthesis is a complex process that occurs in living cells to turn the information contained in DNA into proteins that then carry out the functions that enable cells to live and work together in the body of an organism.
In the nucleus of the cell, the two opposing DNA strands unwind slightly to let an enzyme called RNA polymerase get access to the DNA strands. This works along the strand, putting together a messenger RNA molecule that contains the same sequence as the DNA.
This messenger RNA travels out of the nucleus into the cytoplasm where it attaches to cell organelles called ribosomes. These are protein making machines - they use the mRNA as a template and string together amino acids to form a complex protein. This protein is coded for by the gene in the original DNA sequence. The production of mRNA is called transcription, the process of putting together amino acids to make proteins is called translation.
In the nucleus of the cell, the two opposing DNA strands unwind slightly to let an enzyme called RNA polymerase get access to the DNA strands. This works along the strand, putting together a messenger RNA molecule that contains the same sequence as the DNA.
This messenger RNA travels out of the nucleus into the cytoplasm where it attaches to cell organelles called ribosomes. These are protein making machines - they use the mRNA as a template and string together amino acids to form a complex protein. This protein is coded for by the gene in the original DNA sequence. The production of mRNA is called transcription, the process of putting together amino acids to make proteins is called translation.