Concept in Definition ABC

The RNA or Acid Ribonucleic is a molecule which performs an important function by allowing the information contained in the DNA, transport it to the cellular structures in charge of elaborating the different protein and also form part of the machinery in which the production of the latter.

Unlike DNA which is a double-stranded molecule, RNA is single-stranded and has a ribose molecule in its composition which is responsible for its name. There are three types of RNA, each with a specific function within this process, they are:

Messenger RNA (mRNA). This molecule originates by copying a segment of DNA that has the information for a certain protein, which is known as a gene, each mRNA has the information for a specific protein and there are as many mRNAs as there are types of proteins possible. The mRNA can be described as a kind of template or recipe that contains the information that specifies the way in which the amino acids must be placed in order to be able to manufacture each of the different proteins. The

code contained in this molecule is written with only four bases or nucleotides (adenine, uracil, guanine and cytosine) that are grouped three by three forming triplets, which are the units of information genetics also called the genetic code.

Transfer RNA (tRNA). This molecule is involved in the decoding of the message and binds on the one hand to the messenger RNA molecule and on the other to the amino acid corresponding to the triplet that is being decoded. It could be said that this molecule fulfills the function of a translator or interpreter of genetic information.

Ribosomal RNA (rRNA). This type of RNA joins a group of proteins called ribosomal proteins in order to constitute ribosomes, which are structures located in the cytoplasm of cells and whose function is to carry out the translation process, in which the different proteins are synthesized from the information contained in the messenger RNA. Ribosomes are able to recognize two types of triplets that do not code for any amino acid, they are rather codes that allow you to know when the information for a protein is starting and when it has finished so that the culmination and release of this new one occurs molecules.

In the case of microorganisms such as viruses, some of them do not have DNA, so their RNA is the only molecule that contains genetic information, which is capable of replicating itself in the machinery of the cells of the host to which they have infected.

Topics in RNA