What’s Happening to Me?

 

Dear AnatomyWizard,

I am a messenger… messenger RNA,to be exact.  I work for a genius molecule called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA, for short).  This guy is amazing.  He knows the instructions for making every single protein in the body.  When he wants to send a message, he has me carry the message out to a ribosome.  Here’s where it gets weird.  The ribosome straps me to a sort of workbench.  A bunch of funny-shaped molecules come over to check me out, and each brings an amino acid with him.  After what seems like an hour, although it’s really just a few milliseconds, I am released.  What is going on here?  What kind of messages could the DNA possibly be sending? What are they making in these ribosomes? No one has hurt me, but I do feel vulnerable strapped to that bench.

Signed, Don’t Shoot the Messenger.

Dear Don’t Shoot the Messenger,

There is nothing to be concerned about. You are being strapped into a small and large ribosomal subunits. The funny shaped molecules that are coming to you are called an initiator tRNA that carries an amino acid. They are just looking for the correct complementary mRNA codon to make the correct amino acid. I know that you may feel a little weird about being strapped down without knowledge, You are an important part in this process, and without you, these amino acids will not be able to make polypeptides. Don’t be afraid, and just know that you are a member of a bigger team.

Signed, Lost in Transcription