An enzyme that unwinds the DNA double helix by breaking hydrogen bonds between base pairs, creating single-stranded DNA templates for replication, transcription, and repair. Helicases are essential for accessing genetic information stored in the double helix.
From 'helix' referring to the spiral structure of DNA and the enzyme suffix '-ase.' The term was coined in the 1970s when scientists discovered enzymes that could unwind the DNA double helix structure described by Watson and Crick.
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