mRNA or messenger RNA (German translation: Boten-Ribonukleinsäure) is a type of RNA (short for ribonucleic acid) that plays a key role in the process of protein synthesis in the cells of all living organisms. mRNA is a copy of a specific part of the DNA and transports the information required to build proteins from the genetic material in the cell nucleus to the ribosomes, where protein synthesis takes place.

The process of protein synthesis:

• Transcription: In the nucleus (German: Zellkern), a section of DNA containing genes is transcribed into mRNA. This process is comparable to copying text from a book, where the DNA is the original text and the mRNA is the copy that can be extracted from the cell nucleus.
• Processing: Before the mRNA leaves the nucleus, it undergoes a series of modifications, including capping (adding a “cap” to the end of the molecule), polyadenylation (adding a tail of adenine nucleotides to the other end) and splicing (removing non-coding regions, known as introns).
• Translation: After the mRNA has left the nucleus, it migrates to the ribosomes, where it serves as a template for protein synthesis (translation into German: Proteinsynthese). The ribosomes “read” the nucleotide sequence (German translation: Nukleotidsequenz) in the mRNA in triplets, which are called codons, and each represents the addition of a specific amino acid to the growing polypeptide chain.

The importance of mRNA in science and medicine:

• Genetic research: mRNA is used to study gene expression under different conditions and in different tissues, which helps researchers to understand gene functions as well as the mechanisms of various diseases.
• Vaccine development: mRNA vaccine technology has become widely known through the development of COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccines based on mRNA cause human cells to temporarily produce a protein specific to the virus, which stimulates the immune system to develop a defense against the virus.
• Therapeutic use: mRNA is also studied as a means of treating genetic diseases by introducing the correct version of mRNA into cells in order to correct or compensate for faulty proteins caused by DNA mutations.

mRNA is therefore an indispensable component for the functioning of living organisms while also offering numerous possibilities for medical research and therapy.

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