Printable Protein Synthesis Word Search

Transcription and translation on one sheet with its key, from DNA and codons to a folded protein.

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Protein Synthesis Word Search

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XNPOLYMERASEPIZ

CBTEMPLATECODON

BQRPOLYPEPTIDED

LEAEOOMNUCLEUSS

ERNPCAEKPTROSKS

ECSTTSSTARTUICY

MYFIRESJRAEREYX

MZEDYDERSNHIATE

IBREENNGBSPBAOE

ACRBCAGNZLDOGPV

SMNOHEEWNAESELH

TRANSCRIPTIONAP

JIODNURACILMESU

PROTEINSTOPEIMN

ENZYMEAMINOACID

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TranscriptionTRANSCRIPTION
DNADNA
GeneGENE
Messenger RNAMESSENGER RNA
PolymerasePOLYMERASE
TemplateTEMPLATE
UracilURACIL
NucleusNUCLEUS
TranslationTRANSLATION
RibosomeRIBOSOME
Transfer RNATRANSFER RNA
PolypeptidePOLYPEPTIDE
Peptide bondPEPTIDE BOND
CytoplasmCYTOPLASM
CodonCODON
StartSTART
StopSTOP
Amino acidAMINO ACID
ProteinPROTEIN
EnzymeENZYME

20 words from the Protein Synthesis Key Terms list.

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Answer key: Protein Synthesis Word Search

XNPOLYMERASEPIZ

CBTEMPLATECODON

BQRPOLYPEPTIDED

LEAEOOMNUCLEUSS

ERNPCAEKPTROSKS

ECSTTSSTARTUICY

MYFIRESJRAEREYX

MZEDYDERSNHIATE

IBREENNGBSPBAOE

ACRBCAGNZLDOGPV

SMNOHEEWNAESELH

TRANSCRIPTIONAP

JIODNURACILMESU

PROTEINSTOPEIMN

ENZYMEAMINOACID

TRANSCRIPTION, DNA, GENE, MESSENGER RNA, POLYMERASE, TEMPLATE, URACIL, NUCLEUS, TRANSLATION, RIBOSOME, TRANSFER RNA, POLYPEPTIDE, PEPTIDE BOND, CYTOPLASM, CODON, START, STOP, AMINO ACID, PROTEIN, ENZYME

Next step Print DNA, replication and inheritance Print the wider biology vocabulary

All 121 words

Transcription 24

Cap A specially altered nucleotide on the front end of a new messenger RNA.
Coding Describes the DNA strand whose base sequence matches the RNA that is made.
Complementary Matching base for base, as new RNA does with its DNA template.
DNA The molecule in the nucleus that holds the instructions for making proteins.
Enhancer A short region of DNA that proteins bind to make a gene's transcription more likely.
Exon A part of a gene that stays in the final RNA after the introns are removed.
Expression With "gene", the whole process of using a gene's information to make its product.
Factor With "transcription", a protein that controls the rate at which a gene is copied.
Gene A stretch of DNA whose base sequence sets the amino acid order of a protein.
Intron A region inside a gene that does not remain in the final messenger RNA.
Mature Describes messenger RNA that has been spliced and processed, ready for translation.
Messenger RNA The single strand that carries a gene's protein information out to the ribosome.
Nuclear pore An opening in the envelope around the nucleus, through which RNA leaves for the cytoplasm.

Show all 121 words (108 more)

Transcription, continued

Nucleus The part of the cell where DNA is copied into messenger RNA.
Poly-A tail A stretch of RNA with only adenine bases, added to the end of a messenger RNA.
Polymerase The enzyme that builds RNA from a DNA template.
Precursor The newly made RNA before it is processed into its finished form.
Promoter A region of DNA just before a gene where proteins bind to start transcription.
Spliceosome A large complex of RNA and protein, found mainly in the nucleus, that splices RNA.
Splicing Removing the introns from new RNA and joining the exons back together.
Template The DNA strand that is read to build a matching strand of RNA.
Terminator A stretch of sequence that tells transcription where a gene ends.
Transcription The first stage of protein synthesis: making an RNA copy of a gene's DNA sequence.
Uracil The base that RNA has where DNA has thymine; it pairs with adenine.

Translation 23

Adaptor What a transfer RNA acts as: the link between messenger RNA and the amino acid chain.
Anticodon Three bases at one end of a transfer RNA that pair with three on the messenger RNA.
Cargo The amino acid that a transfer RNA carries.
Chain What amino acids form as they are added one at a time.
Cloverleaf The shape usually drawn for the folded structure of a transfer RNA.
Cytoplasm The watery interior of the cell, where translation takes place on ribosomes.
Decode What a ribosome does to the codons of a messenger RNA, one after another.
Elongation The middle stage of translation, when amino acids are added one after another.
Initiation The first of the three stages of translation.
Large Describes the bigger of a ribosome's two parts.
Peptide bond The covalent link between one amino acid and the next.
Polypeptide A long, continuous, unbranched chain of amino acids.
Polysome A group of ribosomes on one messenger RNA, like beads on a thread.
Release factor A protein that recognizes a stop codon and frees the new peptide from the ribosome.
Ribosomal RNA The nucleic acid that is the main component of the particles where proteins are made.
Ribosome The particle, made of RNA and protein, that is the site of protein synthesis.
Site A place on the ribosome that a transfer RNA fits into; two are called A and P.
Small Describes the lesser of a ribosome's two parts.
Subunit One of the two parts of a ribosome, which differ in size.
Synthetase An enzyme of this kind attaches the right amino acid to its transfer RNA.
Termination The last stage of translation, signaled by a stop codon.
Transfer RNA The small molecule that brings the correct amino acid to the growing chain.
Translation The second stage: messenger RNA is read and amino acids are joined in the order it gives.

The Genetic Code 26

Amber The name given to the stop codon UAG.
Base One of the chemical letters of DNA and RNA; RNA has four.
Central dogma The idea often stated as "DNA makes RNA, and RNA makes protein".
Codon Three bases in a row that name one amino acid or signal the end of the protein.
Degeneracy The feature of the genetic code by which several codons can name one amino acid.
Frameshift A mutation that adds or removes bases, not in threes, and so changes every later codon.
Genetic code The set of rules cells use to turn the information in genes into proteins.
Isoleucine An essential amino acid with a branched hydrocarbon side chain.
Missense A point mutation that makes a codon stand for a different amino acid.
Mutation A change in the base sequence of DNA.
Nonsense A point mutation that creates an early stop codon and a shortened protein.
Ochre The name given to the stop codon UAA.
Opal The name given to the stop codon UGA.
Phenylalanine The amino acid specified by UUU, the first codon worked out, in 1961.
Point With "mutation", a change to a single base.
Reading frame One of the ways to read a sequence of bases as a series of triplets.
RNA The nucleic acid made from a DNA template; three kinds of it take part in making protein.
Sequence The order of the bases in DNA or RNA, or of the amino acids in a protein.
Silent Describes a mutation that still produces the same amino acid.
Sixty-four The number of different codons.
Start The kind of codon, usually AUG, where translation begins.
Stop The kind of codon that signals the end of translation; there are three.
Table With "codon", a chart of 64 entries that shows what each triplet stands for.
Triplet A group of three bases, the size of one codon.
Twenty The number of amino acids in the standard genetic code.
Wobble With "base pair", a pairing between two bases of RNA that breaks the usual rules.

Amino Acids 23

Alanine An amino acid whose side chain is a small methyl group; the body can make it.
Amino acid The building block of proteins; the standard genetic code has 20.
Arginine An amino acid the human diet needs only under some conditions.
Asparagine A polar amino acid that the human body can make for itself.
Aspartic acid One of the six amino acids that humans can make in sufficient quantities.
Cysteine The amino acid whose thiol side chain lets it form disulfide bonds.
Essential Describes the nine amino acids that humans cannot make and must get from the diet.
Glutamic acid An amino acid used by almost all organisms, which the body can generally make.
Glutamine An amino acid whose side chain resembles that of glutamic acid, with an amide group.
Glycine The simplest amino acid: its side chain is a single hydrogen atom.
Histidine An essential amino acid, at first thought to be essential only for infants.
Leucine An essential amino acid with a non-polar isobutyl side chain.
Lysine One of the nine amino acids that humans must get from the diet.
Methionine The amino acid of the codon AUG, where translation usually starts.
Monomer One unit of a polymer; amino acids are those of proteins.
Proline An amino acid that, unlike the others, has a secondary amine in place of the amino group.
Residue The name for a single amino acid once it is part of a chain.
Serine A polar amino acid that the human body can make under normal circumstances.
Side chain The chemical group attached to the backbone; glycine's is a single hydrogen atom.
Threonine An essential amino acid whose side chain contains a hydroxyl group.
Tryptophan An essential amino acid whose side chain is an indole.
Tyrosine An amino acid first found in cheese protein in 1846 and named from the Greek for cheese.
Valine An essential amino acid with a non-polar isopropyl side chain.

Proteins and Their Jobs 25

Actin A protein that forms the thin filaments in muscle.
Alpha helix A stretch of a protein twisted into a coil: the most common secondary structure.
Antibody A large protein the immune system uses to identify bacteria and viruses.
Beta sheet A twisted, pleated layer of strands held side by side by hydrogen bonds.
Chaperone A protein that helps other proteins fold properly.
Collagen The most abundant protein in mammals, found in cartilage, bones, tendons and skin.
Denature To make a protein lose its folded structure, as heat or a strong acid can.
Enzyme A biological catalyst, usually a protein, that speeds up a reaction without being used up.
Folding The process by which a new chain of amino acids takes its three-dimensional structure.
Function The job a protein does, which depends on its folded structure.
Golgi The organelle that packages proteins into vesicles before they are sent on.
Hemoglobin The iron-containing protein that carries oxygen in red blood cells.
Hormone A signaling molecule sent to distant organs or tissues; insulin is one made of amino acids.
Insulin A hormone that helps cells take up glucose from the blood.
Keratin The structural protein of hair, nails, feathers, horns, claws and hooves.
Myosin A motor protein best known for its role in muscle contraction.
Primary The level of protein structure that is simply the order of the amino acids.
Protein A large molecule built from one or more long chains of amino acids, folded into shape.
Quaternary The level of structure of a protein built from two or more smaller chains.
Receptor A protein that receives a chemical signal and passes it on.
Secondary The level of protein structure made of local shapes such as helices and sheets.
Shape What a protein's amino acid sequence usually folds into, in three dimensions.
Signal peptide A short stretch at the start of a new protein that is headed for secretion.
Synthesis The making of something; cells use it to replace the proteins they lose.
Tertiary The level of protein structure that is the three-dimensional shape of one chain.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word list and every clue were written for this page. The facts in the clues were checked on 2026-10-09 against the Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms of the National Human Genome Research Institute (https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary), entries Transcription, Translation, Messenger RNA, Transfer RNA, Ribosome, Codon, Anticodon, Intron, Exon, Promoter, Amino Acids, Protein and Genetic Code, and against English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), chiefly the articles on protein biosynthesis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_biosynthesis), transcription (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcription_(biology)), translation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation_(biology)), the genetic code (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_code), transfer RNA (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_RNA), the essential amino acid (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_amino_acid) and the article of each amino acid and protein in the list. Licence: own work

How it works

This printable protein synthesis word search has both stages in its first grid: Transcription beside DNA, Polymerase and Messenger RNA, Translation beside Codon, Ribosome, Transfer RNA and Amino acid. Organelles and cell division are on the cell word search.

Read the full guide

Transcription, then translation

Transcription, under Start from a list, has 24 words for the copying of a gene, among them Promoter, Polymerase, Intron, Exon and Splicing. Translation has 23 for the ribosome's work, such as Anticodon, Peptide bond, Elongation and Release factor.

The code, the amino acids, the proteins

The Genetic Code has 26 words, from Triplet, Start and Stop to Frameshift and Missense. Amino Acids has 23, with 18 of the standard 20 by name; Phenylalanine and Isoleucine are in the code list. Proteins and Their Jobs has 25, among them Enzyme, Collagen, Hemoglobin and Chaperone.

Messenger RNA, Transfer RNA and Ribosomal RNA are each hidden as one string of letters: MESSENGERRNA.
Start and Stop are in the list as plain words, standing for the start codon and the three stop codons.

Questions and answers

What are the two stages of protein synthesis?

Transcription and translation. In transcription an enzyme, RNA polymerase, copies a gene's DNA into messenger RNA. In translation a ribosome reads that messenger RNA three bases at a time and joins amino acids in the order it gives.

Where does protein synthesis take place?

In cells with a nucleus, transcription happens inside the nucleus. The messenger RNA then moves out to the cytoplasm, where translation takes place on ribosomes.

What is a codon?

A sequence of three bases in DNA or RNA that stands for one amino acid or signals a stop. There are 64 codons: 61 name amino acids and 3 are stop signals.

What are the three types of RNA in protein synthesis?

Messenger RNA carries the sequence of a gene to the ribosome. Transfer RNA brings each amino acid and matches it to a codon. Ribosomal RNA is the main component of the ribosome itself.

Does the protein synthesis word search print with an answer key?

Yes. Page 2, on Letter or A4, repeats the grid with every word ringed. With Show clues, not words ticked, Ribosome is listed as "The particle, made of RNA and protein, that is the site of protein synthesis."

All 121 words

Transcription 24

Transcription, continued

Translation 23

The Genetic Code 26

Amino Acids 23

Proteins and Their Jobs 25

How it works

Transcription, then translation

The code, the amino acids, the proteins

Questions and answers

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