transfer RNA

noun

ˈtran(t)s-ˌfər- 

: a relatively small RNA that transfers a particular amino acid to a growing polypeptide chain at the ribosomal site of protein synthesis during translation

called also tRNA

compare messenger rna

Examples of transfer RNA in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Still other types of ncRNAs, called small nucleolar RNAs, work within cell compartments called nucleoli to help modify the RNA in ribosomes—a cell’s protein-making factories—as well as transfer RNA and mRNA. —Philip Ball, Scientific American, 14 May 2024

Sutherland and his group had previously shown that analogs of right-handed transfer RNA molecules — which bind amino acids and bring them to the ribosome to make proteins — link to left-handed amino acids 10 times faster than to right-handed ones. —Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 6 Sep. 2023

Founded in 2018, Alltrna (pronounced All-terna) aims to understand a molecule known as transfer RNA to try to treat a broad range of genetic diseases. —BostonGlobe.com, 9 Nov. 2021

For example, most viruses lack aminoacyl tRNA synthetase enzymes, which shuttle amino acids onto transfer RNA molecules; these in turn make their way to the ribosome, dropping off their cargo to build proteins from the chains of amino acids. —Jeffrey Marlow, Discover Magazine, 20 Apr. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

transfer RNA

noun

ˈtran(t)s-ˌfər- 

: a relatively small RNA molecule that functions in the transfer of a particular amino acid to a growing protein at the site of protein synthesis during genetic translation compare messenger rna

Medical Definition

transfer RNA

noun

: a relatively small RNA that transfers a particular amino acid to a growing polypeptide chain at the ribosomal site of protein synthesis during translation

called also adapter RNA, soluble RNA, tRNA

compare messenger rna