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Dna Replication
Dna Replication
DEFINITION
DNA - it is the ultimate director for cells and it codes for your traits.
DNA replication, process of making more DNA.
IMPORTANCE
With a molecule that has a function like that, it makes sense that when you make
another
cell---like in cell division---you would also need to get more DNA into the new daughter
cell.
PROCESS
1. DNA replication starts at a certain part called the origin. Usually, this part is identified by
certain DNA sequences.
2. At the origin, helicase (the unzipping enzyme) comes in and unwinds the DNA.
3. Here’s the thing though: you don’t want these strands to come back together. So SSB
Proteins (which stands for single stranded binding proteins) bind to the DNA strands to
keep them separated.
4. And topoisomerase ---keeps the DNA from supercoiling. Supercoiling might sound
super and it can be when you’re trying to compact DNA, but it’s something that needs to
be controlled during DNA replication. Supercoiling can involve an over-winding of the
DNA, and you need the DNA strands to be separated for the next steps.
5. Primase comes in and makes RNA primers on both strands. This is really important
because otherwise DNA polymerase won’t know where to start.
6. In comes DNA Polymerase.
5’ to 3’ AND 3’ to 5’ EXPLANATION
Ok, before we go on, remember how we said DNA has two strands? They’re not
identical; they complement each other.
The N-bases pair together with hydrogen bonds. The base adenine goes with base
thymine and the base guanine goes with the base cytosine.
These strands are also anti-parallel so they don’t go in the same direction.
What do we mean by direction? Well, with DNA, we don’t say North or South.
We say DNA either goes 5’ to 3’ or 3’ to 5’.
Well, the sugar of DNA is part of the backbone of DNA. It has carbons.
The carbons on the sugar are numbered right after the oxygen in a clockwise direction.
1’, 2’, 3’, 4’ and 5.’ The 5’ carbon is actually outside of this ring structure.
Now you do the same thing for the other side but keep in mind DNA strands are anti-
parallel to each other. So, let’s count these---again, clockwise after the oxygen. 1’, 2’ 3’,
4’ 5’. And the 5’ is out of this ring.
This strand on the left runs 5’ to 3’ and the strand here on the right here runs 3’ to 5’.
We’ll explain why all that matters in a moment. So let’s take that knowledge there and
look at DNA replication here.
APPLICATION
The detailed understanding of DNA replication has led to some lifesaving medical treatments
that can stop DNA replication in harmful cells including pathogenic bacteria or human cancer
cells.