Figure 1From: From biophysics to evolutionary genetics: statistical aspects of gene regulationTranscriptional regulation. Transcription is the synthesis of messenger RNA (1) whose genetic code is a copy of the coding DNA (2) of a gene, by means of RNA polymerase (3). A transcription factor (4) bound to a DNA target site interacts with RNA polymerase molecules, (a) enhancing or (b) reducing the transcription rate of a nearby gene.Back to article page