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Concept

Helicase

A digital rendering of a DNA double helix being unwound by an enzyme, showcasing the process of helicase action in genetic replication.

An enzyme that unwinds the DNA double helix ahead of replication, breaking the hydrogen bonds between paired bases and separating the two strands. Helicases burn ATP for fuel and travel along DNA at roughly a thousand base pairs per second in human cells. Without them, the polymerases that read and copy DNA would have nothing to read; the two strands are too tightly wound to access otherwise.

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