Many cells associated with a variety of cancers have mutations in the p53 gene. Why are mutated tumor suppressor genes, like p53, considered recessive mutations

it is a recessive mutation because one functional copy of the p53 gene is sufficient to maintain the normal phenotype (i.e., one functional copy of the p53 gene can protect from cancer)

Explanation:

The p53 gene encodes a protein that plays a critical role in controlling the cell cycle. It is for that reason that the p53 gene is referred to as a "tumor suppressor" gene which acts to suppress tumor cells. Moreover, it is well known that when individuals inherit only one functional copy of this gene (instead of two normal alleles), they are normal but also prone to develop different types of cancers during early adulthood. The Li-Fraumeni syndrome is a genetic (inherited) predisposition to cancer due to the inheritance of a mutated p53 gene copy.

transcription is a process in which information is rewritten. it is something our cells must do, in a more specialized and narrowly defined way. in biology, transcription is the process of copying out the dna sequence of a gene in the similar alphabet of rna. it needs to happen in the nucleus because that's where the dna is. dna is always inside the nucleus unless the cell is dividing.

transcription is the first step in gene expression, which involves copying a gene's dna sequence to make an rna molecule. transcription is performed by rna polymerases. it has three stages: initiation, elongation, and termination. rna molecules must be processed after transcription in eukaryotes.

explanation:

long version:

the protein synthesis consists two processes which are, transcription and translation. transcription takes place in the nucleus. it uses dna as a template to make an rna molecule. rna then leaves the nucleus and goes to a ribosome in the cytoplasm, where translation occurs. transcription is the first part of the central dogma of molecular biology: dna → rna. it is the transfer of genetic instructions in dna to messenger rna (mrna). during transcription, a strand of mrna is made that is complementary to a strand of dna.  

these three stages are:

  initiation: in which   is the beginning of transcription.occuring when the enzyme rna polymerase binds to a region of a gene called the promoter. this signals the dna to unwind so the enzyme can ‘‘read’’ the bases in one of the dna strands. the enzyme is now ready to make a strand of mrna with a complementary sequence of bases.

    elongation: in which is the addition of nucleotides to the mrna strand. rna polymerase reads the unwound dna strand and builds the mrna molecule, using complementary base pairs. there is a brief time during this process when the newly formed rna is bound to the unwound dna. during this process, an adenine (a) in the dna binds to an uracil (u) in the rna.

    termination: in which is the ending of transcription, and occurs when rna polymerase crosses a stop (termination) sequence in the gene. the mrna strand is complete, and it detaches from dna.