Teaching Strategies

Dictogloss - Year 11 Science: DNA Replication

In order for a cell to divide, it must first make a copy of all of its DNA. It does this in a process called DNA replication. Firstly, the bonds that hold together the bases of each base pair are broken by enzymes. The DNA molecule is unzipped to expose the bases along each strand. Next, free nucleotides join on to the exposed bases following the base-pairing rule: A pairs with T and C pairs with G. In this way, each strand of the original DNA molecule serves as a template for the construction of its complementary strand. The end product is two identical molecules of DNA, each containing one original strand and one new strand of DNA.

Contributed by Madeleine Ware