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Multiple Choice
In the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which step is responsible for synthesizing complementary DNA strands?
A
Denaturation
B
Annealing
C
Extension
D
Cooling
Verified step by step guidance
1
Understand the three main steps of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR): Denaturation, Annealing, and Extension.
Denaturation involves heating the DNA to separate the two strands, breaking the hydrogen bonds between the base pairs.
Annealing is the step where the temperature is lowered to allow primers to bind to the complementary sequences on the single-stranded DNA.
Extension is the step where the DNA polymerase synthesizes the new DNA strand by adding nucleotides complementary to the template strand, starting from the primer.
Recognize that the Extension step is responsible for synthesizing the complementary DNA strands, as it involves the action of DNA polymerase to build the new strand.