What is the name for the process where information carried by RNA is converted into a protein?

Translation: Messenger RNA Translated Into Protein

Created by George Rice, Montana State University

Translation is the process that takes the information passed from DNA as messenger RNA and turns it into a series of amino acids bound together with peptide bonds. It is essentially a translation from one code (nucleotide sequence) to another code (amino acid sequence). The ribosome is the site of this action, just as RNA polymerase was the site of mRNA synthesis. The ribosome matches the base sequence on the mRNA in sets of three bases (called codons) to tRNA molecules that have the three complementary bases in their anticodon regions. Again, the base-pairing rule is important in this recognition (A binds to U and C binds to G). The ribosome moves along the mRNA, matching 3 base pairs at a time and adding the amino acids to the polypeptide chain. When the ribosome reaches one of the "stop" codes, the ribosome releases both the polypeptide and the mRNA. This polypeptide will twist into its native conformation and begin to act as a protein in the cells metabolism.

(from Biology 101, link http://edtech.clas.pdx.edu/gene_expression_tutorial/translation.html, John Rueter 11/25/96) 

The following resource was originally accessed through the BioSciEd Net (BEN) digital resources collection, which is the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) (more info) Pathway for biological sciences education. For more teaching resources, please visit BEN to use their searchable database. BEN is free to use, but requires registration.

The ‘Central Dogma’ is the process by which the instructions in DNA are converted into a functional product. It was first proposed in 1958 by Francis Crick, discoverer of the structure of DNA.

• The central dogma of molecular biology explains the flow of genetic information, from DNA to RNA, to make a functional product, a protein.
• The central dogma suggests that DNA contains the information needed to make all of our proteins, and that RNA is a messenger that carries this information to the ribosomes.
• The ribosomes serve as factories in the cell where the information is ‘translated’ from a code into the functional product.
• The process by which the DNA instructions are converted into the functional product is called gene expression.
• Gene expression has two key stages – transcription and translation.
• In transcription, the information in the DNA of every cell is converted into small, portable RNA messages.
• During translation, these messages travel from where the DNA is in the cell nucleus to the ribosomes where they are ‘read’ to make specific proteins.
• The central dogma states that the pattern of information that occurs most frequently in our cells is:
  • From existing DNA to make new DNA (DNA replication)
  • From DNA to make new RNA (transcription)
  • From RNA to make new proteins (translation).

An illustration showing the flow of information between DNA, RNA and protein.
Image credit: Genome Research Limited

• Reverse transcription is the transfer of information from RNA to make new DNA, this occurs in the case of retroviruses, such as HIV. It is the process by which the genetic information from RNA is assembled into new DNA.

Does the ‘Central Dogma’ always apply?

• With modern research it is becoming clear that some aspects of the central dogma are not entirely accurate.
• Current research is focusing on investigating the function of non-coding RNA.
• Although this does not follow the central dogma it still has a functional role in the cell.

This page was last updated on 2021-07-21

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What is the process of the transfer of information from RNA to a protein?

What is the name of the process by which RNA is converted into protein and where does this event take place within the cell?

What is the name of the process where information is converted from RNA form to amino acid sequence where does this process occur?

How is RNA translated into proteins?