Which process produces a protein from an mRNA template?

Which process produces a protein from an mRNA template?

• A. Transcription
• B. Replication
• C. Translation
• D. Splicing

Answer: (C)

Producing a protein from an mRNA template is translation, the step where the information carried by mRNA is read by a ribosome to assemble a chain of amino acids into a polypeptide. The ribosome binds the mRNA and, with helper transfer RNAs that bring specific amino acids, reads each codon and links the corresponding amino acids together. This continues until a stop codon is reached, releasing the finished protein, which then folds into its functional form. This process is distinct from transcription, which copies DNA into RNA, and from replication, which duplicates DNA itself. Splicing is a mRNA processing step that removes introns and joins exons before the mRNA is translated. So, the step that directly uses the mRNA to build a protein is translation.

Producing a protein from an mRNA template is translation, the step where the information carried by mRNA is read by a ribosome to assemble a chain of amino acids into a polypeptide. The ribosome binds the mRNA and, with helper transfer RNAs that bring specific amino acids, reads each codon and links the corresponding amino acids together. This continues until a stop codon is reached, releasing the finished protein, which then folds into its functional form.

This process is distinct from transcription, which copies DNA into RNA, and from replication, which duplicates DNA itself. Splicing is a mRNA processing step that removes introns and joins exons before the mRNA is translated. So, the step that directly uses the mRNA to build a protein is translation.