Deep within the cell’s nucleus, there’s our DNA.

DNA is made up of genes, and each gene is

And genes become proteins in two steps: transcription and translation.

Transcription is the first step in creating a protein, during which a specific gene is “read” and
copied on an individual mRNA, or messenger RNA molecule - which is like a blueprint with
instructions on what protein to build.

Translation is the second step, and it’s when organelles called ribosomes assemble the protein
from amino acids lying around in the cytoplasm.

Each mRNA has a “direction” - running from the 5’ end towards the 3’ end.

mRNA is a chain of four types of nucleotides - which are the individual “letters” or “building
blocks” of mRNA.

Nucleotides are made out of a ribose, which is a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate, and one of the four
nucleobases - guanine, uracil, adenine, and cytosine - or, commonly, G, U, A, C for short.

These nucleotides are the actual information carried within the RNA - each 3 letters is one amino
acid.

In total, these four nucleotides can be arranged into a total of 64 combinations.

The freshly made mRNA floats out of the nucleus through a pore, and hooks up with an idle
ribosome to begin getting translated into a protein.

Right away, there’s a process called initiation which is where the ribosome grabs the mRNA.

Groups of 3 “letters” are called codons, and each codon codes for one amino acid, or gives a
certain signal, such as start or stop.

So, for the ribosome to start, it needs to find a start codon. That is usually a sequence of A U G -
which simultaneously codes for amino acid methionine. So most proteins actually begin with
methionine!

When the ribosome runs into this, it knows that from here on, every subsequent codon represents
one amino acid in the protein.

Now while each codon codes for a single amino acid; each amino acid can be coded for by one or
more codons.

For example - while only the U G G codon codes for amino acid tryptophan, as many as six codons
code for the amino acid leucine - U U A, U U G, C U U, C U C, C U A, C U G.

Translation continues until the ribosome runs into a stop codon, which is a sequence of U A A, U A
G, or U G A. The stop codons do not code for anything else, except for stopping - which is also
known as termination.

But mRNA is only a blueprint of which amino acid goes where in order to get a protein.
The actual job of ferrying the amino acids to the ribosome is done by another type of RNA, called
transfer RNA, or tRNA.

tRNA is a very short RNA sequence that is specialized for finding a specific type of amino acid
within the cytosol, and bringing it to the ribosome.

tRNA only has a 3 “letter” coding sequence, called the anticodon, which is complementary for
what’s written in the mRNA - it means that it can briefly bind to the corresponding mRNA codon
and deposit the amino acid within the ribosome.So, the ribosome has 3 sites for tRNA to bind.

They are the aminoacyl site, or A, the peptidyl site, or P, and the exit site, or E.

Translation begins with the tRNA carrying methionine binding to P-site of the ribosome.

Each subsequent amino acid-carrying tRNA with the complementary codon for the mRNA will bind
to the A-site.

Then, a peptide bond - which is the bond that holds the growing protein together - forms between
the amino acid of the tRNA in the A-site and the amino acid of the charged tRNA in the P-site.

The growing polypeptide chain is transferred to the tRNA in the A-site.

After that, everything moves by one site. The now-empty tRNA in P-site moves to E-site.

The tRNA with the polypeptide chain moves from the A-site moves into P-site. A-site becomes
open for a new tRNA to bring another amino acid.

Finally, the tRNA in the E-site leaves, grabs another amino acid in the cytosol, and returns to float
around the A-site to repeat the process, when needed.

So as the ribosome slides down the length of mRNA, it leaves behind a polypeptide tail - our
growing protein.

So, if mRNA says:

5’ end - A U G G U A C C C C U G A - 3’ end

That means that A U G is the start codon, and immediately, it requires a complementary tRNA with
sequence U A C, which carries a methionine.

Next codon, G U A requires the tRNA with sequence C A U, which brings a valine, the next (C C C)
needs an anticodon G G G, which carries proline.

Finally, we run into U G A, which is a stop codon, and translation is done.

Our tiny little protein is made out of just three amino acids - methionine, valine, and proline.

The final part of the process is the ribosome ferrying its freshly made protein to an organelle called
the endoplasmic reticulum, where it can get further prepared whichever role the cell may have for
it.

Summary
Alright, as a quick recap!

Translation is a process of reading the mRNA within a ribosome, and assembling a protein based
on the instructions found within.

mRNA is made out of codons, which are triplets of nucleotides that either provide start/stop
information, or are coding for a certain amino acid in a protein sequence.

The amino acids are supplied by the tRNA, which contains an anticodon - a complementary
sequence to the mRNA codon.

The translation is done upon reaching the stop codon, which is the signal that the protein is done.

Summary

Translation is the process by which ribosomes in the cell's cytoplasm decode the genetic
information encoded in messenger RNA (mRNA) to synthesize proteins. During translation, transfer
RNA (tRNA) molecules bring amino acids to the ribosome, where they are linked together in a
specific sequence to form a polypeptide chain. The order of amino acids in the polypeptide chain is
determined by the sequence of codons in the mRNA molecule. The process of translation is
essential for the production of proteins, which are involved in a wide variety of biological processes
in the cell.