What is the process of synthesizing RNA under the direction of DNA called?

The process of synthesizing RNA under the direction of DNA is called transcription. During transcription, the enzyme RNA polymerase binds to a specific region on the DNA, unwinding the double helix and using one strand of the DNA as a template to create a complementary strand of RNA. This synthesis occurs in a 5' to 3' direction, building the RNA molecule by adding ribonucleotides that pair with the DNA bases—adenine pairs with uracil in RNA (instead of thymine), and cytosine pairs with guanine.

Transcription is a crucial step in gene expression, allowing the information stored in DNA to be transferred to RNA, which can then be used to produce proteins during the process of translation, which follows transcription. This distinction between transcription and translation reinforces the flow of genetic information from DNA to RNA to protein, often referred to as the central dogma of molecular biology.