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RNA SYNTHESIS: PART 1

In eurkaryotes, DNA is located within the cell's nucleus.  Protein is synthesized in the cytoplasm.  So, how does that happen?

The secret is that an exact copy of the gene is made.  This gene copy is call ribonucleic acid (RNA) and the nucleotides used to make it contain one oxygen atom more than deoxyribonucleotides that make up DNA.

Also different is that the 4 nucleotides for RNA are the usual A (adenine), C (cytosine), and G (guanine), but instead of T (thymine) there is U (uracil).  They pair up A with U and C with G.

The RNA is processed by enzymes in the nucleus (known as 'splicing') and made able to pass through pores in the nuclear membrane.  The result is called 'messenger RNA' or 'mRNA'.

The mRNA passes through the pores in the nuclear membrane into the cytoplasm, where protein is made.

RNA SYNTHESIS: PART 1

RNA Synthesis Links of choice:
Biochemistry - RNA synthesis (textbook by Berg, Tymoczko, and Lubert) on the National Institutes of Health website
Wikipedia - Transcription
DNA From the Very Beginning - concept = RNA
DNA From the Very Beginning - concept = RNA splicing
 

Learn more, google:
mRNA
RNA synthesis
DNA transcription
gene transcription

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