The simplest way to decipher the code would be to start with an mRNA molecule of known sequence, use it to direct the synthesis of a protein, and then determine the amino acid sequence of the ...

Scientists have discovered that tRNAs can determine how long mRNAs exist in a cell, causing some messages to be stabilized ...

Amino acids are essential for nearly every process in the human body. Often referred to as "the building blocks of life," ...

Just like the mechanical components in cars or computers, the molecules inside a cell can sometimes malfunction. When this happens during DNA replication, the result is an unpredictable change in ...

The small subunit had gone away; the mRNA had gone away. We thought the ribosome was completely in destruction mode. So why was it bringing in a tRNA with an amino acid ready to be added on to the ...

Lots of it. Many ribosomes can be working on a single strand of mRNA at once. Protein synthesis isn't a slow process, either. A protein chain 400 amino acids long can be assembled in 20 seconds!