messenger RNA

noun

: an RNA produced by transcription that carries the code for a particular protein from the nuclear DNA to a ribosome in the cytoplasm and acts as a template for the formation of that protein compare transfer rna

Examples of messenger RNA in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Its shares are up nearly 20% this year on increasing confidence around its pipeline and messenger RNA platform, which is the technology used in its Covid vaccine and RSV shot. —Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 1 Aug. 2024

Published today in Nature journals, the Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) includes studies of the participants’ genomes, microbiomes, transcriptomes (the messenger RNA made from their genes), and proteomes (their panoply of proteins). —science.org, 21 June 2024

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are based on messenger RNA — genetic material that sends a message to human cells with instructions to produce a protein that helps prevent infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. —Don Rauf, EverydayHealth.com, 28 June 2024

So the genetic code is literally a code book that goes from DNA — or actually, messenger RNA to amino acid, that then gets linked into a protein. —Quanta Magazine, 20 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

messenger RNA

noun

: an RNA that carries the code for a particular protein from DNA in the nucleus to a ribosome and that acts as a pattern for the formation of that protein compare transfer rna

Medical Definition

messenger RNA

noun

: an RNA produced by transcription that carries the code for a particular protein from the nuclear DNA to a ribosome in the cytoplasm and acts as a template for the formation of that protein

called also mRNA

compare transfer rna