Where does translation occur?

Where does translation occur?

• A. In the nucleus
• B. In the endoplasmic reticulum only
• C. In the cytoplasm at ribosomes
• D. In mitochondria only

Answer: (C)

Translation is the process of reading mRNA by ribosomes to assemble a polypeptide. In eukaryotic cells this happens in the cytoplasm, where ribosomes can be free-floating in the cytosol or attached to the rough endoplasmic reticulum. The nucleus is where transcription occurs, so translation doesn’t happen there. There is some translation inside mitochondria as well, but the majority of protein synthesis occurs in the cytoplasm at ribosomes.

Translation is the process of reading mRNA by ribosomes to assemble a polypeptide. In eukaryotic cells this happens in the cytoplasm, where ribosomes can be free-floating in the cytosol or attached to the rough endoplasmic reticulum. The nucleus is where transcription occurs, so translation doesn’t happen there. There is some translation inside mitochondria as well, but the majority of protein synthesis occurs in the cytoplasm at ribosomes.