Chapter 11, Problem 11CONQ

Obtain two strings of different colors (e.g., black and white) that are the same length. A length of 20 inches is sufficient. Tie a knot at one end of the black string and another knot at one end of the white string. Each knot designates the 5′ end of a string. Make a double helix with your two strings. Now tape one end of the double helix to a table so that the tape is covering the knot on the black string.

A. Pretend your hand is DNA helicase and use your hand to unravel the double helix, beginning at the end that is not taped to the table. Should your hand be sliding along the white string or the black string?

B. As shown in Figure 11.12, imagine that your two hands together form a dimeric DNA polymerase. Unravel your two strings halfway to create a replication fork. Grasp the black string with your left hand and the white string with your right hand. Your thumbs should point toward the 5′ end of each string. You need to loop one of the strings so that one of the DNA polymerases can synthesize the lagging strand. With such a loop, dimeric DNA polymerase can move toward the replication fork and synthesize both DNA strands in the 5′ to 3′ direction. In other words, with such a loop, your two hands can touch each other with both of your thumbs pointing toward the fork. Should the black string be looped, or should the white string be looped?