Discuss the process of protein synthesis in cells, including transcription and translation.

Protein synthesis is the process by which cells make proteins, essential for various cellular functions. It occurs in two main stages: transcription and translation. Transcription takes place in the nucleus, where the DNA sequence of a gene is copied into a complementary RNA molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) by RNA polymerase. The mRNA then travels to the cytoplasm, where translation occurs on ribosomes. During translation, the genetic code carried by the mRNA is decoded by transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules, which bring amino acids to the ribosome. The ribosome reads the mRNA codons and catalyzes the formation of peptide bonds between the amino acids, resulting in the synthesis of a polypeptide chain that folds into a functional protein.