A DNA polymerase is a cellular or viral enzyme that synthesizes DNA molecules from their nucleotide building blocks. DNA polymerases are essential for DNA replication, and usually function in pairs while copying one double-stranded DNA molecule into two double-stranded DNAs in a process termed semiconservative DNA replication. DNA polymerases also play key roles in other processes within cells, including DNA repair, genetic recombination, reverse transcription, and the generation of antibody diversity. DNA polymerases are widely used in molecular biology laboratories, notably for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA sequencing, and molecular cloning.
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Famous quotes containing the word dna:
“Here [in London, history] ... seemed the very fabric of things, as if the city were a single growth of stone and brick, uncounted strata of message and meaning, age upon age, generated over the centuries to the dictates of some now all-but-unreadable DNA of commerce and empire.”
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