RNA is the acronym for ribonucleic acid. RNA is a vital molecule found in your cells, and it's necessary for life. Pieces of RNA are used to construct proteins inside of your body so that new cell growth may take place. When we try to visualize RNA, the best way to do so is to picture a long, spiraling ladder. If it remained in one piece, the long, spiraling ladder would be referred to as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA and RNA are actually thought of as cousins. Now, if you split the long, spiraling ladder down the very middle, you have a pretty vivid picture of RNA. While it's true that RNA exists in various forms, this is its basic structure.
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There are two main functions of RNA. It assists DNA by serving as a messenger to relay the proper genetic information to countless numbers of ribosomes in your body, with ribosomes being the small protein-creating factories located inside of a cell. The other main function of RNA is to select the correct amino acid needed by each ribosome to build new proteins for your body, with an amino acid being one ingredient used to make a protein. While RNA is quite small in stature, your body could not perform as needed without its proper assistance. Let's discuss the two most important types of RNA to get a better idea about RNA's function inside of your body's cells.
The two most important types of RNA are messenger RNA (mRNA) and transfer RNA (tRNA). You can picture the first type, mRNA, as the messenger because that is essentially both its name and job. mRNA is responsible for traveling to the ribosomes of a cell. The mRNA carries a genetic message that tells the ribosomes when it's time to create whatever type of protein that your body needs.
You can picture the second type, tRNA, as the delivery person in a large factory who fetches the proper item to fulfill an order. tRNA is responsible for selecting the proper amino acid to deliver to the ribosome inside of a cell. After the ribosome receives the proper amino acid from the tRNA and the genetic information from the mRNA, it may begin making the correct protein needed by your body.
The main components of RNA are referred to as bases, which are made from sugar and phosphate. There are four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and uracil. Although ribonucleic acid is best visualized as a one-sided spiraling ladder, the bases are quite attracted to one another. This attraction causes RNA to contort its shape into various forms, which gives the bases the ability to pair together and leave the cell to perform the essential functions that your body requires. The four RNA bases will pair together as an adenine/uracil pair and a guanine/cytosine pair. Alterations in this partnership will cause issues with various constructions of proteins and transmission of information, as well as more in-depth problems.
The creation of RNA happens by way of a process known as transcription and actually needs its cousin, DNA, to properly work. First, inside the very center of the cell is a component called the nucleus. This is where DNA is found. DNA unzips the long, spiraling ladder down the very center and frees all of the bases from the ladder. A substance known as RNA polymerase will then take the free bases from the unzipped DNA ladder and form a one-sided spiraling RNA ladder. DNA will return to its previous form and the result will be a long, spiraling ladder of DNA and a long, spiraling one-sided ladder of RNA. The RNA may now leave the center of the cell and perform its duties in other areas of your body.
All right, let's now take a moment or two to review. As we've seen, ribonucleic acid (RNA) is used to construct proteins inside of your body so that new cell growth may take place. We also saw how RNA serves two functions:
We also looked at the two different types of RNA:
We also looked at RNA's components (its bases), which are made from sugar and phosphate and include adenine, guanine, cytosine, and uracil. Finally, we looked at the process of creating RNA, known as transcription. Basically, we can say that RNA serves as a vital tool in your body. If there was no messenger to relay the genetic information to your cell's ribosomes and no delivery person to fulfill the order of selecting the correct amino acid to transfer back to the ribosomes, your body's protein production would essentially stop and the entire factory would go out of business. And, in case it wasn't obvious, nobody wants that!
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In this activity, you will check your knowledge regarding the basic structure and function of an RNA presented in the lesson.
For this activity, study the scrambled letters and try to unscramble or rearrange the letters to form a word or phrase that fits the given clues. To do this, you must right-click and print this page. With a pencil and an eraser, neatly write your answers in the blank space provided.
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