Flexi Says: The two new strands of DNA are “built” in opposite directions, through either a leading strand or a lagging strand. The leading strand is the DNA strand that DNA polymerase constructs in the 5' → 3' direction. This strand of DNA is made in a continuous manner, moving as the replication fork grows. The lagging strand is the DNA strand at the opposite side of the replication fork from the leading strand. It goes in the opposite direction, from 3' to 5'. DNA polymerase cannot build a strand in the 3' → 5' direction. Thus, this “lagging” strand is synthesized in short segments known as Okazaki fragments.
