When the cell is in need of a particular protein, a portion of DNA is used as a template for the production of a smaller molecule known as mRNA. The mRNA will carry information out of the nucleus and into the ribosome. The ribosome is a small but complex lump-like structure that read information from the mRNA to produce a protein.

The process has a close household analogy. Say for example, you need to fix a hole in your roof, much like a cell might need a particular protein to secure a portion of a cell membrane, you would need to go to a place where the information on how to fix the problem would be stored. One strategy would be to go to the library to look for a encyclopedia on fixing up your house. Browsing through the table of contents you would likely find a page containing directions on how to fix your roof. Likewise, the cell goes to its storehouse of information, the nucleus. In the nucleus, the cell looks through its DNA for the particular portion or gene that describes how to make the protein to secure the cell membrane.

At the library. it's possible that all the information you need is stored on one page. However, because the encyclopedia is very large and valuable, the Librarians will not let you check it out. The problem is that you need to bring the information in the encyclopedia home in order to fix your roof. So, you decide to spend a dime and make a photocopy of the page you need. At the cellular level a similar processes occurs. Like the encyclopedia, DNA is very valuable to the cell. The cell wants to protect the DNA from metabolic process in the cytoplasm that may cause detrimental mutations to the DNA. As result, the cell expends energy and makes a copy of the small portion of the DNA (the gene) containing the relevant information. This copy is known as mRNA, or messenger RNA, because it is the messenger of information from one part of a cell to another.

The process of copying mRNA from DNA is known as transcription. When a particular gene is activated, the double helix of DNA splits open to form a transcription bubble. In this bubble, mRNA is synthesized. Transcription matches up complimentary base pairs to make a specific mRNA. For example, every time there is the base G (Guanine) on the DNA, it's complement C (Cytosine) hydrogen bonds with it. If, for example, the next base in line is an A (Adenine) its RNA complement U (Uracil) hydrogen bonds to it. These two bases (C-U) are then linked together by a sugar phosphate backbone and the chain of mRNA begins to grow.

When mRNA synthesis is complete the linear molecule breaks away from its parent DNA. The mRNA then passes out of the nucleus through the nuclear pores. From there the molecule finds its way through the cytoplasm to a ribosome where translation occurs.

The ribosome is made up of many proteins and rRNA's (Ribosomal RNA's), large molecules that direct chemical reactions that translate coded information on the mRNA into proteins. The process occurs in a step-wise manner that is schematized in the RNA Code game. In the game, and in the cell, the mRNA is fed into the ribosome. At the ribosome, complimentary tRNA's match up on the strand of mRNA every three bases. tRNA's or Transfer RNA's are the cellular molecules that carry amino acids. The translation always starts at the three base sequence AUG on the tRNA. This and all other three base sequences are known as codon's. The complementary base sequence on the tRNA is known as the anti codon.

RNA Code game

When a tRNA successively matches up to the mRNA, the ribosome/mRNA complex moves to the next codon; another tRNA with matching bases bonds to the mRNA, and again the ribosome/mRNA complex moves to the next codon. This process occurs along the length of the mRNA until the ribosome comes to a sequence of bases that are interpreted by the cell as a stop codon.

During this process of matching up tRNA's to the mRNA, other reactions that are essential to protein synthesis are occurring. The tRNA's are detaching from their amino acids each time the ribosome moves on to the next codon. At the same time the tRNA detaches from the amino acid, the amino acid bonds to an adjacent amino acid on the tRNA.

The process of tRNA bonding to the mRNA aligns the amino acids in a specific order. Because a long chain of amino acids is a protein, the process described above directs the order of the component amino acids in a given molecule.

Each of the 20 amino acids used by the cell have different chemical properties. Some amino acids are positively or negatively charged, some are much larger or smaller than others, and some are hydrophobic (hate water), while others are hydrophilic (love water). The linear orientation and relative proportions of the different amino acids effect the final structure, and therefore function, of the protein. For example, if a protein is produced with a positive amino acid at one end, and a negative charge at the other end, the two will attract and bend the linear strand into a loop. Other forces from the different amino acids in the strand will cause further interactions and folding.