Process of transcription in eukaryotic cells

Transcription and translation are spatially and temporally separated in eukaryotic cells- that is, transcription occurs in the nucleus to produce a pre-mRNA molecule. 

The pre-mRNA is typically processed to produce the mature mRNA, which exits the nucleus and is translated in the cytoplasm.

In a eukaryote, DNA never leaves the nucleus, so its information must be copied. This copying process is called transcription and the copy is mRNA. Transcription takes place in the cytoplasm (prokaryote) or in the nucleus (eukaryote). The transcription is performed by an enzyme called RNA polymerase. To make mRNA, RNA polymerase:

1. Binds to the DNA strand at a specific sequence of the gene called a promoter
2. Unwinds and unlinks the two strands of DNA
3. Uses one of the DNA strands as a guide or template
4. Matches new nucleotides with their complements on the DNA strand (G with C, A with U -- remember that RNA has uracil (U) instead of thymine (T))
5. Binds these new RNA nucleotides together to form a complementary copy of the DNA strand (mRNA)
6. Stops when it encounters a termination sequence of bases (stop codon)