How fast to replicate?

Algebra Level 2

A bacterial cell with adequate food can replicate in under an hour. In this time, everything in the cell must be copied, including its genome (i.e. the DNA). A copy of the DNA is made by molecular machines called DNA polymerase, which can copy 600 base pairs per second. If the genome of the strain B. acterium is \(4.5\times10^6\) base pairs long, and there are 6 molecules of DNA polymerase in the cell, how long (in seconds) would it take to copy the entire genome?

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Josh Silverman by Josh Silverman
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