What moves in translation?

What moves in translation?

• A. Ribozyme
• B. Protein enzyme
• C. DNA polymerase
• D. Lipase

Answer: (A)

Translation is driven by the ribosome, and the key chemical step—peptide bond formation between amino acids—is carried out by ribosomal RNA. This RNA component acts as a ribozyme, an RNA molecule that has catalytic activity. So the moving, catalyzing force in translation is the ribosome’s RNA-based active site that stitches amino acids together as transfer RNAs bring them to the ribosome. The other options describe enzymes that aren’t responsible for this process: a general protein enzyme isn’t required for translation’s core chemistry, DNA polymerase handles DNA replication, and lipase breaks down lipids.

Translation is driven by the ribosome, and the key chemical step—peptide bond formation between amino acids—is carried out by ribosomal RNA. This RNA component acts as a ribozyme, an RNA molecule that has catalytic activity. So the moving, catalyzing force in translation is the ribosome’s RNA-based active site that stitches amino acids together as transfer RNAs bring them to the ribosome. The other options describe enzymes that aren’t responsible for this process: a general protein enzyme isn’t required for translation’s core chemistry, DNA polymerase handles DNA replication, and lipase breaks down lipids.