Genetic Translation - Creating Protein

This section provides a quick introduction of the Genetic Translation process, which is the process of translating the nucleotide sequence of a mRNA (Messenger RNA) into the amino acid sequence linked with peptide bonds to build a new protein according to the genome codon map chart.

What Is Genetic Translation? - Genetic Translation is the process of translating the nucleotide sequence of a mRNA (Messenger RNA) into the amino acid sequence linked with peptide bonds to build a new protein according to the genome codon map chart. Translation is the last step in the expression process from gene to protein.

The genetic Translation process can also be divided into 3 phases, initiation, elongation and termination.

1. Initiation Phase - During the initiation phase, a special enzyme called Ribosome attaches to the 5' end of a mRNA, It scans the mRNA towards the 3' end of the mRNA until it encounters the START codon (AUG or GUG or UUG). It then synthesizes the first amino acid, usually a Methionine (Met or M) to start a new protein.

2. Elongation Phase - During the Elongation phase, the Ribosome continues to scan codons on the mRNA sequentially, one by one. For each new codon, it finds and binds to a complementary tRNA (Transfer RNA) with a mapped amino acid attached. The attached amino acid will be transferred to the end of the new protein.

3. Termination Phase - When the Ribosome reaches the STOP codon of the mRNA, it will stop the Translation process, release the newly created protein and dissociate itself from the mRNA.

The picture (source: genome.gov) below illustrates the Genetic Translation process:

Gene Expression - Translation Phases
Gene Expression - Translation Phases

Note than the Ribosome is a faster worker. It can adds an amino acid to the protein at least every 0.05 seconds, about 20 amino acid per second.

Also note that, a single mRNA can be used repeatedly by many Ribosomes to build many identical proteins.

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 Introduction of Molecules

 Molecule Names and Identifications

 Molecule Mass and Weight

 Protein and Amino Acid

 Nucleobase, Nucleoside, Nucleotide, DNA and RNA

Gene and Chromosome

 What Is Gene

 What Is Human Genome

 Gene Address on Chromosome

 DNA Coding and Codons

 Gene Expression - ­Building Proteins

 Genetic Transcription - Creating mRNA

Genetic Translation - Creating Protein

 DNA Gene Sequence - Exons and Introns

 Chromosome Replication (or DNA Replication)

 Protein Kinase (PK)

 DNA Sequencing

 Gene Mutation

 SDF (Structure Data File)

 PyMol Installation

 PyMol GUI and CLI

 PyMol Selections

 PyMol Editing Functions

 PyMol Measurement Functions

 PyMol Movie Functions

 PyMol Python Integration

 PyMol Object Functions

 ChEMBL Database - European Molecular Biology Laboratory

 PubChem Database - National Library of Medicine

 PDB (Protein Data Bank)

 INSDC (International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration)

 HGNC (HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee)

 Relocated Tutorials

 Resources and Tools

 Molecule Related Terminologies

 References

 Full Version in PDF/EPUB