1. Initiation → RNA polymerase binds to the promoter of a gene and “unzips” the DNA
2. Elongation → One by one, in sequence, RNA polymerase reads the DNA template and pastes the complementary RNA nucleotides onto a growing mRNA transcript (instead of T, RNA polymerase adds U)
3. Termination → RNA polymerase dissociates, the new mRNA transcript detaches, and the DNA “re-zips” The transcript (mRNA) then finds a ribosome in the cytoplasm)