Translation - One Codon at a Time...

Translation is the process of translating the sequence of nucleotide bases in DNA/RNA into a sequence of amino acids in a protein.

RNA contains four bases, and is used as the template for making proteins that are made from varying combinations of 20 amino acids. Amino acids are also called peptides or residues. A chain of amino acids is called a polypeptide.

A codon is a set of three bases in a DNA or RNA sequence that specify a single amino acid.

Each triplet codon codes for a specific amino acid. Some amino acids can be coded for by more than one triplet codon, as shown in the next slide.

Sources:  image from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) Genetic Illustrations