DNA Translation

DNA Translation

DNA Translation is the second step in ribosomal protein production. This step is continued from Transcription(see DNA Transcription Blog Post for more), which is the process of transcripting or making a DNA strand's mRNA counterpart. This process will take that mRNA and use it to set up the synthesis of proteins.

Materials

mRNA strand

Codon chart

Codons

Codons are basically segments of the transcripted DNA. Usually, three bases make up one codon and each codon is coded for a specific protein that a tRNA(transfer ribonucleic acid) is carrying. Examples will be shown during the process.

Process

1. Take the mRNA strand from the previous process of Transcription and then break up into codons of three, starting with the first AUG set you see.
Ex: AUGGGCUAUAGCC --> AUG GGC UAU AGC
2. Use codon chart to translate the codons into the respective amino acids
Ex: AUG-Meth GGC-Gly UAU-Tyro AGC-Ser
3. Always finish translating when you come across UAA or UAG as they code for stop.

Reflection

This topic was very interesting and fun for me personally, as I like puzzles and this seemed to be one of the many puzzles experienced in biology. While the skills practiced with this process may be helpful in other handy situations, the actual process can't help in anything outside of biology.