DNA Encode Proteins

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The genes in DNA encode protein molecules, which are the "workhorses" of the cell and carry out all the functions necessary for life. For example, enzymes, including those that metabolize nutrients and synthesize new cellular constituents, as well as DNA polymerases and other enzymes that make copies of DNA during cell division, are all proteins. Expression of a gene means manufacturing its corresponding protein, and this multi-layered process has two major steps. In the first step, the information in DNA is transferred to a messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule by way of a process called transcription. The resulting mRNA is a single-stranded copy of the gene, which must be translated into a protein molecule. The four steps of translation are: