What is the process of protein synthesis in cells?

Protein synthesis is the process by which cells build proteins, which are necessary for various cellular functions such as enzymes, structural components, hormones, and transport molecules. The process of protein synthesis involves two main stages: transcription and translation.

Transcription

The first stage of protein synthesis is transcription, which takes place in the nucleus of the cell. In this stage, DNA is used as a template to create a messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule. RNA polymerase, an enzyme, binds to the DNA and separates the two strands. One of the strands is used as a template for the mRNA, which is made by adding RNA nucleotides to the growing chain. The mRNA molecule is then released from the DNA and the DNA strands come back together.

Translation

The second stage of protein synthesis is translation, which takes place in the cytoplasm of the cell. In this stage, the mRNA molecule is used as a template to create a protein. The process begins when the mRNA binds to a ribosome, which reads the sequence of nucleotides in the mRNA and uses this information to assemble a specific sequence of amino acids. Each three-nucleotide sequence in the mRNA (called a codon) codes for a specific amino acid, which is brought to the ribosome by a molecule called transfer RNA (tRNA). The ribosome reads the sequence of codons and adds the corresponding amino acids to the growing protein chain until a stop codon is reached, at which point the protein is released.