Translation

Figuring out What the Message you just picked up means

The process of actually making protein, translation, could be the most mind-boggling process of DNA. But everything you have learned before has lead up to this. Just a warning: you should be prepared to learn the almost unfathomable process of making the protein.

The next process, where the protein is actually made, is called translation (if you don't know what we're talking about, read the previous section). Once the mRNA is out into the cytoplasm, small particles called ribosomes attach to it. A ribosome is made of a particle called ribosomal RNA, or rRNA, and the two protein particles. These ribosomes line up on a codon of the mRNA and call the transfer, or tRNA, to it. The tRNA has a codon attached to it that matches the codon that the ribosome is currently on. The tRNA's codon is what a certain one of twenty amino acids is chemically attracted to, so that amino acid comes and sits next to the tRNA. Then, after the amino acid is there, the ribosome moves on to the next codon. (You have to understand that there is more than one protein particle being made at a time, and that this is the reason for multiple ribosomes.) Once all the amino acids have been called, enzymes begin linking them together. An incomplete strand of enzymes is called a polypeptide. Once all of the amino acids are linking, the polypeptide begins to fold. The process of folding has to do with the positive and negative charges of the amino acids. The positives match up with the negatives, and a protein is formed from the polypeptide. The protein is then sent to do a job somewhere else in the body.

To see the DNA in one cell go through translation in action, click here (Note: requires Shockwave).

Introduction
Replication/Mitosis/Meiosis
Transcription
Translation