Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis is a process by which strands of nucleic acids are created. In a cell, DNA synthesis takes place in a process known as replication. Using genetic engineering and enzyme chemistry, scientists have also developed man-made methods for synthesizing DNA.

The DNA molecule was discovered in 1951 by Francis Crick, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins. In 1953, Watson and Crick used x-ray crystallography data from Rosalind Franklin to show that the structure of DNA is a double helix. For this work, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1962.

To understand how DNA is synthesized, it is important to understand its structure. DNA is a long chain polymer made up of chemical units called nucleotides. It is the genetic material in most living organisms that carries information related to protein synthesis. Typically, DNA exists as two chains of nucleotides that...