The Similarities Shared Between RNA Synthesis and DNA Synthesis

It’s been known that RNA and DNA carry out the process of transcription in a similar fashion.

RNA Synthesis

There are numerous similarities between RNA and DNA during the process of synthesis. When it comes to transcription, or RNA synthesis, there are four stages that occur: initiation, binding, elongation, and termination. All of these stages are extremely intricate and detailed, but, they all require RNA polymers to be bound to a template strand of DNA. Now, DNA plays an important role in the entire synthesis process. Essentially, they’re the template from which RNA copies from. The RNA nucleotides will go through a variety of sequences throughout the synthesis process until it reaches the specific sequence that it needs. It then detaches itself from the DNA followed by terminating the entire process.

DNA Synthesis

The process of DNA synthesis is fairly similar to the RNA synthesis process in that involves the binding of polymers. But, as it proceeds through the sequencing stages it becomes much more complicated, involving the creation and identification of new strands. When the DNA polymerases synthesize, there’s something known as a lagging strand that is created alongside the process. To help understand this, think of two strands synthesizing at the same time. However, one strand will synthesize continuously while the other strand follows discontinuously. This gap is what creates the lagging strand. The process of DNA synthesis then proceeds similar in the way that RNA synthesis does until the DNA template directs it to stop.

The Bottom Line

Both RNA and DNA synthesis work in a similar fashion to each other. They both go through the synthesis steps and discontinue upon the creation of the sequence. Additionally, they also follow similar patterns during transcription. Although DNA synthesis is viewed as the more complex process, RNA synthesis can almost be viewed as a simplified version.


 

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