- "DNA replication is the biological process of producing two identical replicas of DNA from one original DNA molecule."
DNA replication is the process by which cells copy their genetic material before cell division. Understanding this process is essential in molecular biology since it is the basis of inheritance and genetic disease.
DNA structure: Understanding the basic structure of DNA, including the double helix and nucleotide components.
DNA function: Understanding the function of DNA as the genetic code for all living organisms.
Semi-conservative replication: Learning about the semi-conservative replication model, which is the most widely accepted model for DNA replication.
Replication fork: Understanding the replication fork, which is the location where DNA replication occurs.
DNA polymerases: Learning about the enzymes responsible for synthesizing new DNA strands, DNA polymerases.
Replication origins: Understanding the locations on the DNA molecule where DNA replication begins, called replication origins.
Helicase: Learning about the enzyme responsible for unwinding the DNA helix to allow replication to occur, helicase.
Primase: Understanding the enzyme responsible for synthesizing RNA primers, which provide a starting point for DNA synthesis, primase.
Okazaki fragments: Learning about the short, discontinuous fragments of DNA synthesized during DNA replication on the lagging strand, called Okazaki fragments.
Leading and lagging strands: Understanding the two DNA strands in DNA replication, called the leading and lagging strands.
DNA ligase: Learning about the enzyme responsible for joining the Okazaki fragments together on the lagging strand, DNA ligase.
Proofreading: Understanding the mechanisms by which DNA polymerases proofread newly synthesized DNA strands for errors.
Replication fidelity: Learning about the accuracy of DNA replication and how errors can occur during the process.
Replication termination: Understanding how DNA replication is terminated at the end of a DNA molecule.
Telomeres: Learning about the specialized DNA sequences called telomeres, which protect the ends of DNA molecules from degradation during replication.
- "DNA replication is essential for cell division during growth and repair of damaged tissues, while it also ensures that each of the new cells receives its own copy of the DNA."
- "DNA replication occurs in all living organisms acting as the most essential part of biological inheritance."
- "DNA is made up of a double helix of two complementary strands."
- "During replication, these strands are separated."
- "Each strand of the original DNA molecule then serves as a template for the production of its counterpart, a process referred to as semi-conservative replication."
- "Cellular proofreading and error-checking mechanisms ensure near perfect fidelity for DNA replication."
- "In a cell, DNA replication begins at specific locations, or origins of replication, in the genome which contains the genetic material of an organism."
- "Unwinding of DNA at the origin and synthesis of new strands, accommodated by an enzyme known as helicase, results in replication forks growing bi-directionally from the origin."
- "Most prominently, DNA polymerase synthesizes the new strands by adding nucleotides that complement each (template) strand."
- "DNA replication occurs during the S-stage of interphase."
- "DNA replication (DNA amplification) can also be performed in vitro (artificially, outside a cell)."
- "DNA polymerases isolated from cells and artificial DNA primers can be used to start DNA synthesis at known sequences in a template DNA molecule."
- "Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), ligase chain reaction (LCR), and transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) are examples."
- "Researchers reported evidence suggesting that a preliminary form of transfer RNA, a necessary component of translation, could have been a replicator molecule itself in the very early development of life, or abiogenesis."