protein synthesis

• Protein synthesis

  The process of making proteins
• Protein synthesis

  1. Transcription

  2. Translation
• Transcription

  The process of taking a single gene of DNA and copying it into a structure called mRNA
• Translation

  The process of taking the mRNA strand and using it to produce a protein
• Inside almost every cell is a nucleus that contains all the genetic material of that cell in the form of DNA
• DNA contains thousands of genes which are each small sections of the DNA that have a specific sequence of bases and so are able to code for a specific sequence of amino acids which when combined will form a particular protein
• The DNA is so big it can't leave the nucleus itself
• mRNA

  A copy of a single gene, a messenger RNA
• mRNA

  • It is much shorter than DNA because it's only a single gene long
  • It is a single strand rather than a double strand like DNA
  • Instead of containing the base thymine it contains uracil
• Transcription

  1. RNA polymerase binds to the DNA just before the gene starts

  2. The two strands of DNA separate apart so all their bases are exposed

  3. RNA polymerase reads the bases one by one and uses them to make an mRNA strand

  4. The mRNA bases are complementary to the DNA bases

  5. RNA polymerase detaches from the DNA once it has finished making the mRNA strand
• Template strand

  The DNA strand that the RNA polymerase moved along to make the mRNA
• Codon

  A group of three bases that codes for a specific amino acid
• Translation

  1. mRNA and ribosome bind together

  2. Ribosome adds one amino acid at a time to build the protein chain

  3. tRNA molecules bring the correct amino acids to the ribosome based on the mRNA codons

  4. Ribosome moves along the mRNA, joining the amino acids together

  5. Once the full chain is built, it detaches from the ribosome and folds up to form the final protein
• tRNA

  Transfer RNA, molecules that bring the amino acids to the ribosome based on the mRNA codons
• Anticodon

  The sequence of three bases on the tRNA that is complementary to the codon on the mRNA