Final answer:
The "central dogma" describes the sequence of information transfer from DNA to RNA to protein in cells, involving the processes of transcription and translation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The "central dogma" of molecular biology refers to the flow of genetic information within a cell, which moves from DNA to RNA to protein. Specifically, the term describes how genetic instructions are carried in the DNA of a cell, transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA), and then translated into proteins. The process begins with transcription, where a section of DNA is used as a template to create an mRNA molecule. Following this, translation takes place, in which the sequence of nucleotides in the mRNA is decoded into a sequence of amino acids to build a protein. This fundamental concept is vital to understanding how genes direct the production of proteins, which are essential for cell function and structure.