Messengery RNA (mRNA)
In animal, plant and fungal cells, the instructions for making proteins and the structures where proteins are made are found in two different locations:
- DNA is stored in the nucleus.
- Proteins are assembled from free amino acids in the cytoplasm in structures called ribosomes.
A chemical called mRNA is the substance that carries a complementary copy of a gene from the DNA in the nucleus to the ribosomes in the cytoplasm. is made in the nucleus and carries a copy of the DNA base sequence of a specific gene to the cytoplasm.
Ribosomes attach to the mRNA and the instructions it carries are used to assemble amino acids in the correct order to make a specific protein.