What is transcription?

• A. The process of taking a template DNA and making a complementary RNA.
• B. The process of translating RNA into a protein.
• C. The process of replicating DNA.
• D. The process of editing RNA transcripts.

Answer: (A)

Transcription is the process by which the information in a DNA template is copied into a complementary RNA molecule. An enzyme like RNA polymerase reads the DNA and builds a new RNA strand by matching bases (A with U, T with A, C with G, G with C) and extending the RNA in the 5' to 3' direction. This RNA transcript can then be used to make a protein in the next step, translation, or be further processed.

The description that matches transcription is the one that states making complementary RNA from a DNA template. Translation, by contrast, converts RNA into protein; replication copies DNA itself; and RNA editing/processing happens after transcription to modify the RNA transcript.