Monday, November 1, 2010

DNA Polymerase Synthesizes

A DNA polymerase is an enzyme that assists in DNA replication. Such enzymes catalyze the polymerization of deoxyribonucleotides alongside a DNA strand, they "read" and use as a template. The newly-polymerized molecule is complementary to the template strand and identical to the template's partner strand. Polymerase Chain Reaction The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a technique widely used in molecular biology. It derives its name from one of its key components, a DNA polymerase used to amplify a piece of DNA by in vitro enzymatic replication. As PCR progresses, the DNA thus generated is itself used as a template for replication. This sets in motion a chain reaction in which the DNA template is exponentially amplified. RNA Polymerase RNA polymerase (RNAP or RNApol) is an enzyme that makes an RNA copy of a DNA or RNA template. In cells, RNAP is needed for constructing RNA chains from DNA genes, a process called transcription. RNA polymerase enzymes are essential to life and are found in all organisms and many viruses. In chemical terms, RNAP is a nucleotidyl transferase that polymerizes ribonucleotides at the 3' end of an RNA transcript.

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