Q14 - DNA Replication Origins and Rate
Theoretically, in human cells, the rate of DNA polymerase during the replication is about 100 nucleotides per second. Assume that each copy of human genome contains 3 × 10⁹ nucleotides and that both copies of the genome are identical.
Q14.1. What is the minimum number of origins that human cells need to replicate their DNA every 12 hours? Give your answer as a whole number.
Q14.2. On average, how many nucleotides are replicated from one origin within 12 hours? Give your answer in millions of nucleotides to 2 decimal places.
Question reproduced from IBO 2023, Theoretical Paper 1, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 - attributed to the International Biology Olympiad. Open the full exam PDF