Ribosomes are special organelles that are directly involved in protein synthesis. They are made of RNA (ribonucleic acid) and protein and are made in the nucleus (from a DNA template), then go out into the cytoplasm to function. Ribosomes of prokaryotes and eukaryotes are chemically different enough that some of our antibiotics such as tetracycline, streptomycin, and the new, can interfere with bacterial ribosomes’ ability to do protein synthesis without also interfering with our ribosomes.
