A gene is not read directly. The cell copies it into a working transcript and reads that.

What it means

Transcription makes an RNA copy of one stretch of one strand, and that copy is what travels out to the machinery that builds proteins. Keeping the master out of harm's way is part of the point, and so is control: a cell can make many transcripts of a gene it needs a lot of, and none at all of one it does not. This is a large part of how identical cells become different tissues.

The claim comes from NCBI Bookshelf.

Nearby in the collection

The facts either side of this one.

• NHGRIeasy, 77 letters
• NCBI Bookshelfmedium, 79 letters
• PLOS Biologymedium, 75 letters
• NIAMShard, 76 letters

About as hard as this one

Scored closest to it by the model behind our guide to solving cryptograms.

• Brain Research Bulletineasy, 74 letters
• NCBI Bookshelfeasy, 77 letters
• RSCmedium, 71 letters
• PNASmedium, 72 letters