Central Lakes Medical

Initiation of DNA Replication

DNA replication begins (initiates) at special sites called origins of DNA replication. Eukaryotic DNAs each contain multiple replication origins,

Figure 1. DNA replication begins when ORC proteins attach to an origin of replication, of which there are thousands throughout the genome. Helicase unwinds the double helix, and single-strand binding proteins stabilize it, while it is copied by DNA polymerases.