Making proteins
To make a protein, a cell must put a chain of amino acids together in the right order. First, it makes a copy of the relevant DNA instruction in the cell nucleus, and takes it into the cytoplasm - a bit like taking a photocopy of the instruction manual from the manager's office out to the assembly lines in a car factory. Here, the cell decodes the instruction and makes many copies of the protein, which fold into shape as they are produced.
