Team:Queens Canada/SynthetiQ/DNA

From 2012.igem.org

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To help you understand our forthcoming videos better, here is a basic rundown of DNA structure and how our human models illustrate this.

DNA Helix-DNA is a right-handed double helix. If you curl the fingers of your right hand and point your thumb up, you will see that each strand coils upwards in the direction your fingers are pointing in.

Antiparallel-DNA strands are arranged antiparallel to each other, meaning that they run parallel to each other but have opposite alignments. The 5’ end of one strand is bound to the 3’ end of the other strand. You will always see an open hand next to a closed fist.

Primer Binding-DNA polymerase is the enzyme that synthesizes a new strand of DNA on an existing single strand of DNA. However, it needs a primer to get started, which is short strand of RNA. Here, a primer is binding to the 3’ end of a single-stranded DNA molecule, in preparation for synthesis of a new DNA molecule in the 5’ to 3’ direction.

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