|
|
Article: DNA Polymerases
- Article from:
- Genetics
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
DNA Polymerases
DNA polymerases are proteins that synthesize new DNA strands using preexisting DNA strands as templates. Before one cell divides to produce two cells, the DNA containing the genetic information in it must be duplicated for the new cell, in a process known as
polymerization
. In human cells, duplicating the DNA genome requires the polymerization of 2.91 billion nucleotides, the building blocks of DNA. In the bacterium
Escherichia coli
, the polymerization of 4.64 million nucleotides is necessary to duplicate the genome for the new cell. In all cells, the DNA polymerases are the protein catalysts that link together the nucleotide building blocks of the new DNA polymer in an ...