The process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product.
Gene transcription is the process by which DNA is used as a template to synthesize RNA. It is the first step in gene expression
These products are often proteins, but in non-coding genes such as transfer RNA (tRNA) or small nuclear RNA (snRNA) genes, the product is a functional RNA. The process of gene expression is used by all known life - eukaryotes (including multicellular organisms), prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea), and utilized by viruses - to generate the macromolecular machinery for life. Several steps in the gene expression process may be modulated, including the transcription, RNA splicing, translation, and post-translational modification of a protein.