Protein Coding and Ribosomes

The process of translating DNA into an active protein has two phases: The first is transcribing a DNA open reading frame into an mRNA molecule. The mRNA is synthesized from one strand of double stranded DNA helix. This transcription is catalyzed by the RNA polymerase enzyme, using the DNA strand as a template for creating the RNA strand. The mRNA leaves the nucleus, leaving the introns behind, heading for a ribosome. The process of synthesizing a protein from an RNA molecule is accomplished by tRNA. These molecules carry the amino acids to the ribosome, where they can be attached to a growing chain of amino acids, a.k.a. a polypeptide. The Ribosome moves along the mRNA, so that successive codons are brought into position for their respective amino acids.

  

Figure: protein coding