replikacj

Replikacja, or replication, is the process of producing a copy of something that preserves essential information or structure. In science and technology, replication has specialized meanings in biology, computing, and data management. The goal is to enable continuity, redundancy, or study by observing a duplicate under similar conditions.

In biology, DNA replication duplicates the cell’s genetic material before cell division. The process is semi-conservative: each daughter DNA molecule contains one parental strand and one newly synthesized strand. Replication starts at origins of replication, proceeds bidirectionally at replication forks, and involves enzymes such as helicase, primase, DNA polymerases, and ligase. DNA is checked by proofreading and repair systems to minimize errors. In eukaryotes, replication occurs during S phase; in bacteria, a single circular chromosome is copied at the origin.

In the laboratory, replication also refers to in vitro DNA amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR uses repeated cycles of denaturation, primer annealing, and extension to produce millions of copies of a target sequence, enabling sequencing, cloning, or diagnostic testing.

In computing and information systems, data replication creates copies of data across multiple storage devices or locations. This improves availability, fault tolerance, and disaster recovery. Techniques include synchronous replication, asynchronous replication, and various consistency models. Replication can be implemented at different levels (block, file, or database) and involves trade-offs between latency, bandwidth, and consistency.

Ethical and practical considerations include data integrity, version control, privacy, and security in replicated datasets or systems.