Protein Synthesis RNA

Protein Synthesis RNA

Protein biosynthesis is the process in which cells build proteins. The term is sometimes used to refer only to protein translation but more often it refers to a multi-step process, beginning with amino acid synthesis and transcription which are then used for translation. Protein biosynthesis, although very similar, differs between prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

Amino Acid Synthesis

Amino acids are the monomers which are polymerized to produce proteins. Amino acid synthesis is the set of biochemical processes which build the amino acids from carbon sources like glucose. Not all amino acids may be synthesised by every organism, for example adult humans have to obtain 8 of the 20 amino acids from their diet.

Transcription

Transcription is the process by which an mRNA template, encoding the sequence of the protein in the form of a trinucleotide code, is transcribed from the genome to provide a template for translation. Transcription copies the template from one strand of the DNA double helix, called the template strand.

Ribonucleic Acid or RNA

Ribonucleic acid or RNA is a nucleic acid made from a long chain of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous base, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate. RNA is very similar to DNA, but differs in a few important structural details: in the cell RNA is usually single stranded, while DNA is usually double stranded. RNA nucleotides contain ribose while DNA contains deoxyribose, and RNA has the nucleotide uracil rather than thymine which is present in DNA.