Modeling

The mRNA class performs all of the functions that mRNA do in living cells and is directly related to the process of transcription and translation. Once an RNA polymerase, which is represented visually as a large violet sphere, binds onto the DNA, the process of transcription occurs and a mRNA is created, as seen in Figure 3.1. As transcription progresses, which is the process of turning DNA nucleotide sequence information into RNA sequence information, the mRNA gets gradually larger. When transcription finishes, the mRNA is released, where it moves randomly within the space of the model. Because of how the simulation software was created, mRNA could not be represented as a thin ribbon-like shape that is seen in textbooks or other conventional models. Instead, the mRNA is represented visually as a long, thin, red rod. Contained within each mRNA is information required for the sequencing of proteins.