Most genes contain the information needed to make functional molecules called proteins. (A few genes produce regulatory molecules that help the cell assemble proteins.) The journey from gene to protein is complex and tightly controlled within each cell. It consists of two major steps: transcription and translation. Together, transcription and translation are known as gene expression.
During the process of transcription, the information stored in a gene's DNA is passed to a similar molecule called RNA (ribonucleic acid) in the cell nucleus. Both RNA and DNA are made up of a chain of building blocks called nucleotides, but they have slightly different chemical properties. The type of RNA that contains the information for making a protein is called messenger RNA (mRNA) because it carries the information, or message, from the DNA out of the nucleus into the cytoplasm.
Translation, the second step in getting from a gene to a protein, takes place in the cytoplasm. The mRNA interacts with a specialized complex called a ribosome, which "reads" the sequence of mRNA nucleotides. Each sequence of three nucleotides, called a codon, usually codes for one particular amino acid. (Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.) A type of RNA called transfer RNA (tRNA) assembles the protein, one amino acid at a time. Protein assembly continues until the ribosome encounters a “stop” codon (a sequence of three nucleotides that does not code for an amino acid).
The flow of information from DNA to RNA to proteins is one of the fundamental principles of molecular biology. It is so important that it is sometimes called the “central dogma.”
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journal article
DNA by Design: An Inference to the Best Explanation for the Origin of Biological InformationRhetoric and Public Affairs
Vol. 1, No. 4, Special Issue on the Intelligent Design Argument (Winter 1998)
, pp. 519-556 (38 pages)
Published By: Michigan State University Press
//www.jstor.org/stable/41939476
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Journal Information
Rhetoric & Public Affairs is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the history, theory, and criticism of public discourse. Published quarterly, the journal explores the traditional arenas of rhetorical investigation including executive leadership, diplomacy, political campaigns, judicial and legislative deliberations, and public policy debate. Critical, analytical, or interpretive essays that examine particular instances of symbolic inducement in any historical period are welcome. Of special interest are manuscripts that explore the nexus of rhetoric, politics, and ethics–the worlds of persuasion, power, and social values as they meet in the crucible of public debate and deliberation.
Publisher Information
Since its founding in 1947, the mission of the Michigan State University Press has been to be a catalyst for positive intellectual, social, and technological change through the publication of research and intellectual inquiry, making significant contributions to scholarship in the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
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