Chapter 12: Useful Materials

These animations for both transcription (CLICK HERE: TRANSCRIPTION) and translation (CLICK HERE: TRANSLATION) are from the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska. I think these animations are interesting because they go into detail about the process of transcription and translation.

Now I shall somewhat explain both these processes...yay!

Transcription is the process of creating a complementary RNA copy of a sequence of DNA. During transcription, a DNA sequence is read by RNA polymerase, which produces a complementary, antiparallel RNA strand. Transcription is initiated when the RNA polymerase complex assembles at the promoter. RNA polymerase catalyzes the elongation of the RNA while the DNA template is unwound and rewound.

Translation is the process that converts an mRNA sequence into a string of amino acids that form a protein. This fundamental process is responsible for creating the proteins that make up most cells. It also marks the final step in the journey from DNA sequence to a functional protein; the last piece of the central dogma to molecular biology.