Question

Differentiate between sense and anti-sense DNA strands.

Answer 1

Feature	Sense Strand	Anti-sense Strand
Role in Transcription	It does not take part in transcription (it is “passive”).	It acts as the template for RNA synthesis.
Sequence Similarity	Its sequence is identical to the mRNA produced (except that T is replaced by U).	Its sequence is complementary to the mRNA produced.
Direction	Runs in the 5’ → 3’ direction.	Runs in the 3’ → 5’ direction.
Codons	Contains the actual genetic code (codons) for the protein.	Contains the anti-codons (complementary triplets).
Binding	It does not bind to RNA polymerase.	RNA polymerase binds directly to this strand to read the code.