Educator

Translation: Protein Synthesis

• The central dogma of biology states that DNA is used to make RNA, and RNA is used to make a protein. The first stage, making RNA from DNA, is called transcription. The second stage, making a protein from RNA, is called translation.

• In this Lesson, we’ll look at the translation stage of the central dogma of biology. Translation is also known as protein synthesis.

• Amino acids are the building blocks of polypeptides, and proteins are made from polypeptides. In translation, the RNA produced from transcription is used as a template that determines the sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide. Polypeptides are built with the help of ribosomes and transfer RNA.

• Protein synthesis can be affected by mutations, which can have harmful effects.