From DNA to Protein
What is RNA? RNA is a copy of DNA used as a workhorse so DNA doesn't get damaged as it tries to make proteins. It differs from DNA in 3 major ways.
1) It uses ribose instead of deoxyribose as a sugar
2) It is single stranded
3) Instead of a T (thymine), RNA uses U (uracil)
There are 3 major types of RNA
From DNA to RNA:
DNA must first be converted into RNA because DNA cannot leave the nucleus. This is done to prevent damage to the DNA. Unzipped DNA is used as a template to create a strand of mRNA according to the following base paring rules. This mRNA is a copy of a gene used to make a protein.
From RNA to Protein
This template strand can now leave the nuclear membrane and make its way into the ribosome. The ribosome (made from rRNA) is a molecular machine that will use the blueprint from mRNA and create a protein from it. Think of the ribosome as a protein factory. In order to make the growing protein, tRNA molecules attach to amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) and bring them to the correct 3 base match on the mRNA strand. In doing this, amino acids are strung together one at a time to form a peptide or protein.
This protein will fold and create a certain shape. This shape will determine the proteins function.
Remember FORM FITS FUNCTION!
The following videos may help you out!