Bacterial transcription is the process in which messenger RNA transcripts of genetic material in bacteria are produced, to be translated for the production of proteins. Bacterial transcription occurs in the cytoplasm alongside translation. Unlike in eukaryotes, bacterial transcription and translation can occur simultaneously. This is impossible in eukaryotes, where transcription occurs in a membrane-bound nucleus while translation occurs outside the nucleus in the cytoplasm (see also Eukaryotic transcription). In bacteria genetic material is not enclosed in a membrane-enclosed nucleus and has access to ribosomes in the cytoplasm.