Bidirectional Replication

Here's a quick video (~12 min) regarding the replication fork and DNA synthesis.   It is done by Dr. Bird.

How cool is that structure?

Today in class we were to go over the structure of DNA.  The structure is intimately linked to its function, so the base-pairing aspect is HUGE.  The fact that a string of bases on one DNA molecule can dictate the order of nucleotides on the partner molecule is the only thing that allows information to be transferred from cell-to-cell during division, and by extension from parents to offspring generationally.

To show the awesome beauty of the molecule I showed a great site in class: http://www.umass.edu/molvis/tutorials/dna/ This was put together by Dr. Eric Martz and he lets people use it for free.  I think being able to rotate and move the molecule, to zoom in, isolate nucleotide pairs, and all the features here are a great way to really appreciate how DNA works!

I encourage you to go to the site yourself and see what you can see.  The link I gave above is the hands-on part.  I thought I'd share with you my thoughts about this activity in a little movie (below).

Have fun!