Eukaryotic gene expression. Illustration showing where the key processes of gene expression occur in eukaryotic cells. Gene expression is where DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid, blue) is transcribed into mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid, purple), which is then used (translated) to produce proteins. In eukaryotes such as plants and animals, transcription and RNA processing occurs in the cell nucleus (yellow). Translation occurs in the cell fluid (cytosol). A ribosome (blue, lower right) uses the mRNA to produce polypeptides (red) in protein synthesis. For prokaryotic gene expression, see C023/8864. For this artwork without labels, see C023/8867.