Translation

The process of protein synthesis, or translation can now begin. In the cytoplasm, a transfer RNA (tRNA) molecule binds to a specific amino acid and two such complexes deliver their amino acids to the ribosome. The anticodon on tRNA binds to the complementary codon on mRNA by specific base pairing (A to U, C to G). An enzyme now forms the peptide bind between the amino acids by condensation using energy from ATP and the process is repeated building up the polypeptide chain. Alterations of the base sequence of the gene, mutations alter the structure of the mRNA and so possibly altering the primary structure of the polypeptide coded for. These can be substitutions, deletions of additions. The greatest corruption of the code occurs with the latter two which cause frame shifts that are catastrophic to the base sequence and the primary structure of the coded protein