Question

You have been assigned a DNA stretch. What is the complementary strand when you replicate the template

Answer 1

Answer:

The complementary strands of a DNA are read in the opposite direction to one another

Explanation:

A DNA strand/stretch can be represented with a number of bases. The bases in a DNA strand are Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Cytosine (C) and Guanine (G). The Adenine can bind to Thymine (and vice-versa) while the Guanine can bind to Cytosine (and vice versa). These bonded bases are called "base pairs".

Complementary DNA strands are read in opposite direction to one another. Each end of a DNA strand is either a 5' end or a 3' end. Hence, if one strand runs from the 5' to 3' end, the complementary strand will run from the 3' to 5'. Thus, they are represented "on paper" the way they run.

For example,

If the DNA strand assigned is AGTCTAG running 5' to 3', the complementary strand will be CTAGACT (starting from the 3' end) and NOT TCAGATC (which starts from the 5' end)