The Problem Proteins are made in the cytoplasm. DNA is located in the nucleus.

DNA cannot leave the nucleus; it is protected in the nucleus and proteins cannot enter or leave the small pores in the nuclear envelope. The Solution Another nucleic acid, RNA, is able to enter and leave the nucleus at will. It takes the "recipe" for the needed protein by complementary base pairing with DNA in a process called transcription. The RNA is getting the message encoded in the DNA but is carrying it in a different form. When a cultural anthropologist does an oral interview with a person, he or she will record that interview on tape. Often, the anthropologist will then listen to the tape and type the interview to have a hard copy to look at. This is called transcription too. The tape and the "transcript" (paper) mean the same thing; they are two different forms of the same information. This messenger RNA (mRNA) then goes into the cytoplasm to be translated at the ribosome. Transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules attach to the mRNA. A tRNA consists of an anticodon to the mRNA's codon and an amino acid. These strands meet at the ribosome. The job of the ribosome is to attach the amino acids together in the order presented with peptide bonds. A string of amino acids held together by peptide bonds is a polypeptide (or protein)!
The central dogma of molecular biology was first stated by Francis Crick in 1958[1] and re-stated in a Nature paper published in 1970:[2]

Information flow in biological systems

The central dogma of molecular biology deals with the detailed residue-by-residue transfer of sequentialinformation. It states that such information cannot be transferred back from protein to either protein or nucleic acid. Or, as Marshall Nirenberg said, "DNA makes RNA makes protein."[3] In other words, the process of producing proteins is irreversible: a protein cannot be used to create DNA. The dogma is a framework for understanding the transfer of sequence information between sequential information-carrying biopolymers, in the most common or general case, in living organisms. There are 3 major classes of such biopolymers: DNA and RNA (both nucleic acids), and protein. There are 33 = 9 conceivable direct transfers of information that can occur between these. The dogma classes these into 3 groups of 3: 3 general transfers (believed to occur normally in most cells), 3 special transfers (known to occur, but only under specific conditions in case of some viruses or in a laboratory), and 3 unknown transfers (believed never to occur). The general transfers describe the normal flow of biological information: DNA can be copied to DNA (DNA replication), DNA information can be copied into mRNA (transcription), and proteins can be synthesized using the information in mRNA as a template (translation).[2]

RNA is transcribed in the nucleus; once completed processed, it is transported to the cytoplasm and translatedby the ribosome (not shown).

Protein biosynthesis is the process in which cells build or manufacture proteins. The term is sometimes used to refer only to protein translation but more often it refers to a multi-step process, beginning with amino acid synthesis and transcriptionof nuclear DNA into messenger RNA, which is then used as input for translation. The cistron DNA is transcribed into a variety of RNA intermediates. The last version is used as a template in synthesis of a polypeptide chain. Proteins can often be synthesized directly from genes by translating mRNA. When a protein must be available on short notice or in large quantities, a protein precursor is produced. Aproprotein is an inactive protein containing one or more inhibitory peptides that can be activated when the inhibitory sequence is removed by proteolysis duringposttranslational modification. A preprotein is a form that contains a signal sequence (an N-terminal signal peptide) that specifies its insertion into or through membranes, i.e., targets them for secretion.[1] The signal peptide is cleaved off in theendoplasmic reticulum.[1] Preproproteins have both sequences (inhibitory and signal) still present.