Page 32 - The Cell and Its Components

sequence of amino acids that makes up the protein.

The translation process of making the new protein from
the RNA instructions takes place in a complex machine in
the cell called the ribosome. The following steps take
place in the ribosome.
 The RNA moves to the ribosome. This type of
RNA is called the "messenger" RNA. It is
abbreviated as mRNA where the "m" is for
messenger.
 The mRNA attaches itself to the ribosome.
 The ribosome figures out where to start on the
mRNA by finding a special three letter "begin"
sequence called a codon.
 The ribosome then moves down the strand of
mRNA. Every three letters represents another
amino acid molecule. The ribosome builds a string
of amino acids based on the codes in the mRNA.
 When the ribosome sees the "stop" code, it ends
the translation and the protein is complete.

How a ribosome makes a protein