Protein Synthesis and mRNA Decoding

Protein synthesis begins when ribosomes decode messenger RNA (mRNA) and build a chain of amino acids. This final step of gene expression is called translation. The finished chain is a polypeptide, which can later become a functional protein.

Proteins are often called the building blocks of life b...

Translation is the process of synthesizing a protein from a messenger RNA template.

This process begins when the small subunit of a ribosome, in a complex with a methionine tRNA and initiation factors, binds to the five prime end of an mRNA. The complex scans the mRNA in the five prime to three prime direction until it encounters an AUG c...