🥼organic chemistry review

Translation

Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025

Definition

In the context of organic chemistry, particularly within the study of biomolecules and nucleic acids, translation is the process by which the genetic code carried by messenger RNA (mRNA) is decoded to produce a specific sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide chain, leading to protein biosynthesis. It occurs in the ribosome, where tRNA molecules match amino acids to the corresponding codons on the mRNA strand.

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