Which process involves converting mRNA codons to proteins?

The process that involves converting mRNA codons to proteins is translation. During translation, the ribosome reads the sequence of codons on the messenger RNA (mRNA). Each codon, which is a triplet of nucleotides, corresponds to a specific amino acid or signals the termination of protein synthesis. Transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules bring the appropriate amino acids to the ribosome as it reads the mRNA. As the ribosome moves along the mRNA, it catalyzes the formation of peptide bonds between the amino acids, thus building a polypeptide chain that will fold into a functional protein.

This process is critical in the central dogma of molecular biology, where genetic information is first transcribed from DNA to mRNA during transcription, and then translated from mRNA to protein during translation. Understanding translation is fundamental to biology as proteins play essential roles in various cellular functions and processes.