Deep in the nucleus of a human cell, the DNA is coiled tightly around itself, becoming a structure known as a chromosome. This chromosome contains many, many nitrogen bases that in specific patterns form blueprints for all sorts of important molecules known as proteins. One of these proteins is Elastin, and today, the cell has received news that it needs to make more of it.

The first thing the cell has to do is a process known as transcription. This takes place in the safe nucleus of the cell. It begins with initiation, when an enzyme called RNA polymerase binds to a special location on the DNA known as a promoter, which marks the beginning of the blueprint for Elastin. This makes the DNA unwind, and it's ready to use one half of its double helix to create a strand of messenger RNA, or mRNA.

The mRNA is built complementary to the DNA strand as the RNA polymerase glides along. It grows longer and longer through elongation, until it reaches termination and detaches from the DNA strand. Now it's ready to leave the nucleus and begin translation!

For translation, the mRNA moves over to a ribosome, which is made of transfer RNA, or tRNA, and other proteins.

The ribosome is attached to the rough ER. The tRNA is a special tool the cell uses. It contains a sequence of three nitrogen bases, called an anticodon.