I’m trying to study but I’m struggling with simplifying this concept and with understanding it. I’ve never been that good at biology so I’m sorry if it’s a dumb question. It’s a semi-conservative process, because a new strand forms after a cell divides. And this, I have no issue with understanding. But if the 3’-5’ strand is the leading strand (because this is what our teacher has told us) and the DNA polymerase synthesises in the 5’-3’ direction, what about the 5’-3’ strand of the original cell? Our book shows a picture of a recently formed 3’-5’ strand. Does this mean the 5’-3’ strand can also be the leading strand? Sorry I’m just so confused and I think this is crucial to understanding the rest 😭
In: Biology
There is no “original cell” after division. When it splits, we wind up with two daughter cells.
Now, it’s been a while since I’ve had to remember the actual terminology, so I don’t understand this *5′-3’* you’re asking about but I at least know the process. With the replication of DNA strands, the entire molecule is split lengthwise and new bases are added to it to make (mostly) exact copies of the original. It’s semi-conservative because half of the original full strand goes to one daughter cell and the other half of the original goes to the other daughter cell.
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