Labster Protein Synthesis Practice Exam

Translation proceeds in three stages: initiation, elongation, and termination. It starts with initiation, when the ribosome assembles on the mRNA at the start codon with the first charged tRNA and initiation factors. Next comes elongation, where the ribosome moves along the mRNA, decoding codons and adding the corresponding amino acids to the growing polypeptide chain. Finally termination occurs when a stop codon is reached, triggering release factors to release the finished protein and disassemble the ribosome. The order matters because you need the machinery in place before building the chain and you must stop at the proper signal, so this sequence accurately reflects how translation runs.