Cryo-EM imaging suggests how the double helix separates during replication

(Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) Figuring out how accurate replication works at the level of individual molecules and atoms is one of the great achievements of modern science. The journey of investigators is not yet done, however. A major unsolved part of the puzzle is understanding how the entire process of copying the genome begins. In new research, insight into how the two stands of the double helix separate in the earliest stages of replication is becoming clear.