Understanding Transcription in Molecular Biology

In molecular biology, transcription refers to the process of creating a complementary RNA copy of a DNA sequence. This RNA copy, called messenger RNA (mRNA), carries the genetic information from the DNA to the ribosomes, which are the site of protein synthesis.

During transcription, the enzyme RNA polymerase reads the DNA template and adds nucleotides to a growing RNA chain. The resulting mRNA molecule is complementary to the DNA template, meaning that it has the same sequence of nucleotides as the DNA template but with the base pairing rules reversed (A-T and G-C).

Not all DNA sequences are transcribed into mRNA. Some regions of DNA are called non-coding regions because they do not code for any proteins and are not transcribed into mRNA. These regions may still have important functions, such as regulating gene expression or providing structural support for the genome.