Protein synthesis represents the final stage in the translation of genetic information from DNA, via messenger RNA (mRNA), to protein. It can be viewed as a four-stage process, consisting of amino acid activation, translation initiation, chain elongation and termination. The events are similar in both prokaryotes, such as bacteria, and higher eukaryotic organisms, although in the latter there are more factors involved in the process.

To begin with, each of the 20 cellular amino acids are combined chemically with a transfer RNA (tRNA) molecule to create a specific aminoacyl-tRNA for each amino acid. The process is catalyzed by a group of enzymes called aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, which are highly specific with respect to the amino acid that they activate. The initiation of translation starts with the binding of the small subunit of a ribosome, (30S in prokaryotes, 40S in eukaryotes) to the initiation codon with the nucleotide sequence...