Biomolecules Question 41
41. DNA synthesis can be specifically measured by estimating the incorporation of radio labelled
(a) uracil
(b) adenine
(c) thymidine
(d) deoxyribose sugar
Show Answer
Answer : c
Hints & Solutions
(c) Thymidine is used to assess the rate of DNA synthesis, since thymine is unique to DNA. In the prokaryotic bacterium E. coli, replication can occur at a rate of 1,000 nucleotides per second. In comparison, eukaryotic human DNA replicates at a rate of 50 nucleotides per second. In both cases, replication occurs so quickly because multiple polymerases can synthesize two new strands at the same time by using each unwound strand from the original DNA double helix as a template.
