OnScreen DNA Replication for Android

11 things about OnScreen DNA Replication

1. The concepts of leading and lagging strands and what the Okazaki fragments are and how they are constructed and then joined together through the actions of various replisome enzymes are made clear and memorable through the three-dimensional simulations in the Model View and the representations of enzymes in the Sequence View.

2. The replisome enzyme complex, while not shown in the view with the DNA model, so as not to obscure what is happening with bonds and strands, is depicted in the Sequence View below the model, thus making the point that it moves along the DNA, as it initiates and controls the reactions in replication.

3. Through the use of engaging 3D animations with a virtual double helix model (not a 2D ladder) it makes clear and memorable how DNA daughter strands are constructed nucleotide by nucleotide in replication.

4. OnScreen DNA Replication shows all of the several steps (indicating the corresponding enzymes responsible for those steps) necessary for one double helix to become two identical to the original.

5. Rotate, translate, or zoom the model during the simulated replication for a better view just by finger slide gestures.

6. The model is exactly the same as the one found in OnScreen DNA Model, a companion app that teaches the structural details of DNA, and in OnScreen Gene transcription, another companion app that shows how protein recipes are copied into messenger RNA.

7. Detailed commentary on what the animations demonstrate in each step is available in a popover view, and a wealth of background material is to be found in a "Useful Stuff" popover.

8. The sequence of events in DNA replication unfolds in three-dimensional simulations that don't skip over the need for unwinding the DNA after the strands have been separated.

9. Important details about replication that are often given short shrift or omitted altogether, such as the essential role the enzyme pyrophosphatase plays in the cell, are included.

10. Furthermore, the actions of the individual enzymes that make up the replisome are also indicated in the Sequence View.

11. See a 30-second preview video at nondummies.com. We know of no other simulation, app or internet, that shows what happens in DNA replication as thoroughly as this app does.