Dna Learning Center: Mechanism of Replication 3d Animation
Posted27 days agoActive18 days ago
dnalc.cshl.edustory
informativepositive
Dna ReplicationMolecular BiologyEducation_technology
Key topics
Dna Replication
Molecular Biology
Education_technology
Discussion Activity
Active discussionFirst comment
N/A
Peak period
17
192-204h
Avg / period
7
Comment distribution21 data points
Loading chart...
Based on 21 loaded comments
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Dec 7, 2025 at 8:43 AM EST
27 days ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Dec 7, 2025 at 8:43 AM EST
0s after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
17 comments in 192-204h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Dec 15, 2025 at 4:09 PM EST
18 days ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 46181628Type: storyLast synced: 12/15/2025, 7:35:30 PM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
Some favorites:
https://dnalc.cshl.edu/resources/3d/13-transcription-advance...
https://dnalc.cshl.edu/resources/3d/16-translation-advanced....
https://dnalc.cshl.edu/resources/3d/08-how-dna-is-packaged-a...
https://dnalc.cshl.edu/resources/3d/central-dogma.html
I stepped over people huddled on the sidewalk, dirty, splicing the fiber optic cable yesterday. I wonder how long before there are little robots that do the splicing without humans?
From what I’ve gathered the actual splicing is partly automated today and relatively straightforward if somewhat tedious. The big variable is the context. New construction should have relatively few variables.
With repair, everything goes out the window. I just talked to him last night and he was out on a cable cut repair all night Friday. Middle of a snowstorm, maps were not accurate, repair site was very difficult to work in.
For example, see Table 1: https://book.bionumbers.org/how-quickly-do-different-cells-i...
You /could/ compute a global mean or median mitosis rate, and show how it changes/doesn't change with age, but it wouldn't say very much biologically. A narrower analysis that considers cell type and other context could be meaningful.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicase
The wild thing is that it doesn't have a 'gas tank' of ATP to drive the reaction, it goes this fast while being fueled one molecule at a time from the environment.
Where does the ATP come from?
Buckle up my mechanical engineer friend - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT5AXGS1aL8
I've watched that video a hundred times and it still gives me chills haha.
If I had these when I was in high school in the 80s I truly think I would have gone into molecular biology. They are obviously have flaws in terms of a true representation of the process, but it makes the machine much more apparent and that's always been the thing that kept it at bay for me.
More of this style of animation can be found in the WEHImovies channel on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@WEHImovies/videos
I can see how a cell is far too complicated to contemplate at this time. But, if focusing on the video of the DNA replication complex. (DNA strand + a few enzymes), I wonder if it could be in the realm of doable within the coming years or decades.
Re water... yea... I suspect explicit solvents are the way to go. So, you are not just simulating the protein and DNA molecules, but also each water.
https://dnalc.cshl.edu/resources/products/3d-brain-app.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20230307055457/https://play.goog...