|
Transcription is the process of making RNA from DNA.
Since DNA and RNA use the same four letter alphabet made of the bases
A,C,T, and G, (except RNA uses U instead of T), copying a gene
from DNA onto RNA simply transcribes the instructions for making
a protein. It does not translate them into another language or alphabet.
In eukaryotes, DNA remains in the nucleus, but proteins are built
in the cytoplasm. So the instructions contained in DNA must be
transcribed onto an RNA (ribonucleic acid) molecule, which moves
into the cytoplasm and serves as the template for making a protein.
Unlike replication, which makes a copy of a complete chromosome,
transcription only makes a copy of the gene that is to be expressed
as a protein.
|
