RNA processing describes the series of steps in which the primary transcript produced from DNA (pre-mRNA) acquires its final form as a mature messenger RNA.
Definitions
- Central dogma. Describes how proteins are made, in the sequence of DNA -> RNA -> Protein
- Transcription. Copying the information from DNA into pre-mRNA (messenger RNA). Pre-mRNA must be processed into a mature messenger RNA (see Processing).
- Processing. Removal of extra nucleotides, post-transcriptional modification, and the stabilization of the RNA transcript.