DNA Basics
This is the process where DNA is copied before cell division.
What is replication?
What must happen first for DNA replication to begin?
The DNA strands must separate
This enzyme builds new DNA strands.
What is DNA polymerase?
Prokaryotic DNA is usually this shape.
What is circular?
DNA replication is essential for this process in multicellular organisms.
What is growth and repair?
DNA replication occurs during this phase of the cell cycle.
What is the S phase?
These Y-shaped structures form where DNA is being copied.
What are replication forks?
DNA polymerase adds these building blocks to DNA.
What are nucleotides?
Eukaryotic DNA replication begins at how many starting points?
What are many origins of replication?
Cancer cells often reactivate this enzyme to divide endlessly.
What is telomerase?
This type of replication produces DNA with one old strand and one new strand.
What is semiconservative replication?
What is the role of a template strand during replication?
It guides the formation of a complementary DNA strand.
Besides building DNA, what other important job does DNA polymerase do?
It proofreads and corrects errors.
This structure protects the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes.
What are telomeres?
Why is DNA replication important in cancer research?
Because stopping replication can stop cancer cell division.
These base-pairing rules make DNA replication accurate.
What are A–T and G–C base pairing rules?
What would most likely happen if base pairing did not occur correctly?
Mutations could occur in the DNA sequence.
Why is proofreading important during DNA replication?
It reduces the number of mutations.
This enzyme extends telomeres during replication.
What is telomerase?
How can DNA replication errors contribute to genetic variation?
They create mutations that can be inherited.
Why does DNA’s double-helix structure make replication possible?
Each strand contains the information needed to build the complementary strand.
How could an error during DNA replication affect future cells?
The mutation could be passed on to daughter cells and change protein function.
Why do mutations still occur even though DNA polymerase proofreads DNA?
Proofreading is not perfect, and some errors escape correction.
Why do eukaryotic cells need telomerase but prokaryotic cells do not?
Eukaryotic chromosomes are linear and risk losing DNA at the ends.
Explain how DNA replication supports both survival and evolution.
Accurate replication preserves life, while occasional mutations create diversity.