The process of ___________ removes noncoding sections called __________ while leaving the protein-coding portions of the gene called __________.

The process of ___________ removes noncoding sections called __________ while leaving the protein-coding portions of the gene called __________.

• A. DNA splicing; introns; exons
• B. mRNA splicing; exons; introns
• C. RNA splicing; introns; exons
• D. mRNA splicing; introns; exons

Answer: (D)

Splicing edits the RNA transcript by removing introns, the noncoding regions, and joining the exons, the coding segments that will be translated into protein. This step happens during processing of the precursor mRNA to produce mature mRNA, ready for export to the cytoplasm. Introns don’t code for proteins, while exons contain the sequences that will be expressed. The term mRNA splicing is the standard way to describe this RNA-level editing, and it correctly identifies which parts are removed (introns) and which are kept (exons).

Splicing edits the RNA transcript by removing introns, the noncoding regions, and joining the exons, the coding segments that will be translated into protein. This step happens during processing of the precursor mRNA to produce mature mRNA, ready for export to the cytoplasm. Introns don’t code for proteins, while exons contain the sequences that will be expressed. The term mRNA splicing is the standard way to describe this RNA-level editing, and it correctly identifies which parts are removed (introns) and which are kept (exons).