Question #88788

1 Answer
Jan 4, 2015

Both strands of DNA are replicated in a repeated identical process until the correct amount of DNA or cells has been reached.

When DNA replicates, it "unzips" per say. Both carbon backbones of the double helix will separate from each other, and unzip between the weak amino acid pairs. Amino acid pairing works much like magnets, and have a match for each amino acid. The sequence of amino acids determines an organism's traits and chemical makeup. Now the actual "unzipping" of the double helix between the amino acids is done by special enzymes which move along the DNA strand and have the sole purpose to separate.

Once a DNA section is split and looks like two half-ladders, you are left with a one sided carbon backbone with amino acids sticking out. Keep in mind that amino acids have a specific pair, such as adenine to guanine or thymine to cytosine. Once the DNA is split, TRNA (another type of DNA) will bring corresponding amino acids to match up to the half DNA. The TRNA assembles a new strand piece by piece, adding a new section to the ever-forming double helix.
DNA Replication