What occurs during the process of translation in protein synthesis?

During the process of translation in protein synthesis, ribosomes play a crucial role in reading the messenger RNA (mRNA) sequence to assemble amino acids into a polypeptide chain, ultimately forming proteins. This process begins when the ribosome binds to the mRNA and moves along it, decoding the sequence of nucleotides in sets of three, known as codons. Each codon corresponds to a specific amino acid, which is brought to the ribosome by transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules. As the ribosome continues to move along the mRNA, it facilitates the formation of peptide bonds between the amino acids, extending the growing polypeptide chain until it reaches a stop codon, signaling the end of translation.

In contrast, some of the other processes mentioned in the choices refer to different stages or aspects of gene expression. DNA replication involves duplicating the DNA during the S-phase of the cell cycle, while transcription is the process of synthesizing RNA from a DNA template. Tagging proteins for degradation involves post-translational modifications or cellular signaling processes unrelated to the actual synthesis of proteins during translation. Hence, the correct understanding of translation is centered on the role of ribosomes in translating mRNA into amino acids to build proteins.