DNA Replication Why do we need to replicate (make copies of) our DNA?

DNA replication occurs at astounding an astounding rate (up to 4000 nucleotides per second). This explains how bacteria can reproduce so quickly even though they have as many as 4 million nucleotides to copy (takes ~20 minutes). Read your text pages 188 to 189 “Replication of DNA” and “Accuracy and Repair” and answer the following questions:

1. What is an enzyme?

2. What role do enzymes play in DNA replication?

3. Write it the complimentary strands for the template strands of DNA below.

a. A – G – G – C – A – A – T – A – C – G – G – A – T

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b. C – C – A – G – A – A- T –A –C – C- C – T – A- T _________________________________________

4. What is a mutation?

5. During DNA replication errors usually occur in about 1 in every _____________ paired nucleotides. The actual error rate in the final replicated product is only one error per _______________ nucleotides. What mechanism is responsible for repairing errors and how does it work?

6. Aside from errors in replication, list two other agents responsible for mistakes in base-pairing.