What is the function of mRNA?

1 Answer
Mar 2, 2018

mRNA, or messenger RNA, is a type of RNA which copies DNA and conveys it to ribosomes in a cell.

Explanation:

Because DNA is vital, it can not leave the nucleus of a cell. Instead, mRNA copies specific parts of the DNA in a process called transcription, and travels through the cytoplasm of a cell to the ribosomes. In the ribosomes, the mRNA is decoded as part of a processs called translation, where another type of RNA called tRNA binds to the mRNA to build an amino acid chain.

tRNA nucleotides have anticodons, which are complementary to the codons on the mRNA, and each molecule carries a single amino acid. After the amino acids from various tRNA molecules bind together, the amino acid chain is formed. After the chain takes on its three-dimensional form in a process called protein folding, the amino acid chain becomes a protein.