transcription

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transcription The process in living cells in which the genetic information of DNA is transferred to a molecule of messenger RNA (mRNA) as the first step in protein synthesis (see also genetic code). Transcription takes place in the cell nucleus or nuclear region and is regulated by transcription factors. It involves the action of RNA polymerase enzymes in assembling the nucleotides necessary to form a complementary strand of mRNA from the DNA template (see also promoter), and (in eukaryote cells) the subsequent removal of the noncoding sequences from this primary transcript (see RNA processing) to form a functional mRNA molecule. The term is also applied to the assembly of single-stranded DNA from an RNA template by the enzyme reverse transcriptase. Compare translation.

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