Transcription is the DNA → RNA part of the central dogma of molecular biology. Transcription occurs in the nucleus. During transcription, a copy of mRNA is made that is complementary to a strand of DNA. In eukaryotes, mRNA may be modified before it leaves the nucleus.

DNA transcription of the genes for mRNA, rRNA, and tRNA produces large precursor molecules ("primary transcripts") that must be processed within the nucleus to produce the functional molecules for export to the cytosol. Some of these processing steps are mediated by snRNAs.

During transcription, the enzyme RNA polymerase (green) uses DNA as a template to produce a pre-mRNA transcript (pink). The pre-mRNA is processed to form a mature mRNA molecule that can be...

The process of Transcription takes place in the cytoplasm in prokaryotes and in nucleus in eukaryotes. It uses DNA as a template to make an RNA (mRNA) molecule. During transcription, a strand of mRNA is made that is complementary to a strand of DNA. Figure 1 shows how this occurs.

This molecule is a special class of RNA, called messenger RNA, and the process of its synthesis is called transcription. During transcription the sequence of a gene is copied into an mRNA, using one strand of the DNA molecule as template ( Figure 1.5 ).