The human genome can be described as a chain of nucleotides that is 3.2 billion base pairs long. Twenty-three different lengths that are called chromosomes segment this string of material. Genes further segment the chromosomes. The chromosomes vary in length and so do their genes. DNA of a gene on a certain part of a certain chromosome can be transcribed into mRNA, which is then translated into protein. The number of genes in our genome has been highly contested. It was originally believed that humans had over 100,000 genes. This number declined as we learned more about our genome and was more or less standardized to be around 25,000 upon completion of the Human Genome Project. 

Based on the definition of genome, it is the entire set of DNA found within all the chromosomes an organism contains. The human genome is contained on 23 pairs of chromosomes, which code for about 25,000 genes. 

DNA nucleotides bond via hydrogen bonding to form the double helix structure. DNA is negatively charged due to the phosphates and binds to histones to form compact chromosomes in the nucleus. 

RNA polymerase II is the primary protein responsible for generating mRNA.

RNA polymerases I and III transcribe other RNAs (such as tRNA and rRNA). DNA polymerase is responsible for DNA replication during the S phase of the cell cycle.

During transcription, transcription factors will bind to promoter sites on the 5' side of the gene to be transcribed. Although the answer "a gene" is technically correct, the more accurate answer is promoter site—the region of DNA that initiates transcription. 

A peptide strand is the product of translation, and does not bind transcription factors. 

Ribosomes help read the RNA that is eventually transcribed from the DNA, but transcription factors do not interact directly with the ribosomes. 

Plant cells are eukaryotic, thus they have nuclei. The process of mRNA synthesis is called transcription. Transcription occurs in the nucleus in eukaryotes. In prokaryotes, it occurs in the cytoplasm. Note that rRNA synthesis and ribosome assembly takes place in the nucleolus. 

The genetic code is read in triplets. The addition of a single nucleotide would shift the triplets such that they are no longer read in the correct frame. This is called a frameshift mutation. A truncated protein could be a result of an insertion, but this is not the most likely result. Early transcriptional termination would not be a likely result of an insertion, since this is mediated by long GC repeats or a protein called rho in prokaryotes. Eukaryotic transcriptional termination is not well-understood.

The first stage of transcription is initiation, in which RNA polymerase II (PolII) engages the promoter and recruits the general transcription machinery. Following initiation, PolII travels down the length of the gene, producing a transcript (elongation). Finally, transcription is terminated, and PolII is removed from the gene. Following transcription, immature heterogeneous RNA (htRNA) can be processed during splicing to become mature messenger RNA (mRNA).

Summary of steps:

Initiation, elongation, termination, splicing

When transcribing from a template strand, the new strand is synthesized in the opposite direction, much like in DNA replication. This will result in antiparallel strands. Also, we need to replace thymine with uracil, because RNA uses uracil in place of thymine.

Template: 5'-CGAATGGCAT-3'

Answer:     5'-AUGCCAUUCG-3'

To see these pairs match up, the 3' end of the answer must align with the 5' end of the template.

Template:       5'-CGAATGGCAT-3'

Answer (3'-5'): 3'-GCUUACCGUA-5'

There are several types of RNA, but four main types: messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and heteronuclear RNA (htRNA).

Heteronuclear RNA is the direct product of transcription, prior to post-transcriptional modification. htRNA is unable to exit the nucleus until it has undergone RNA splicing to remove introns, addition of the poly-A tail, and addition of the 5' cap. At this point, the htRNA has matured to become functional mRNA.

Messenger RNA is the final transcription product from DNA and used as the template for protein translation. It carries genetic information in the form of codons from the nucleus to the cytosol to create protein chains.

Transfer RNA binds to specific amino acids and helps add them to protein chains during translation. tRNA molecules enter active sites in the ribosome and match an anticodon region to the mRNA template codon before transferring their amino acid cargo to the polypeptide chain.

Ribosomal RNA associates with proteins and is used to form the structure of the ribosomes.