During which stage of gene expression is the mRNA transcript produced?

During the process of gene expression, the production of mRNA transcript occurs during transcription. This stage involves copying the genetic information from DNA into mRNA. The enzyme RNA polymerase binds to the DNA at a specific region called the promoter and unwinds the DNA strands. It then synthesizes a complementary RNA strand by adding RNA nucleotides that are complementary to the DNA template strand. This process results in the formation of a pre-mRNA transcript, which will subsequently undergo processing before it can be translated into a protein.

In contrast, translation refers to the process where the mRNA is read by ribosomes to synthesize proteins, and translocation is a term typically used to describe the movement of the ribosome along the mRNA during translation or the movement of chromosomal segments. Replication is the process by which DNA is duplicated before cell division, not related to the transcription of mRNA.