DNA polymerase — Science definition
The enzyme that builds a new DNA strand by adding matching nucleotides one at a time along a template strand.
Where it is taught
- DNA Structure & Replication — DNA, Inheritance & Gene Expression, Life Science: Biology, Grade 10
In use
Each exposed strand then serves as a template: an enzyme called DNA polymerase moves along it and adds free-floating nucleotides one by one, always obeying the pairing rule — slotting a T opposite every A, a G opposite every C.
DNA Structure & Replication
Taught alongside
- nucleotide
- double helix
- complementary base pairing
- semiconservative replication
- antiparallel
- semiconservative