why is the dna synthesis of the lagging strand considered discontinuous?
This is the parent strand of DNA which runs in the 3' to 5' direction toward the fork, and it's able to be replicated continuously by DNA polymerase. The other strand is called the lagging strand. This is the parent strand which runs in the 5' to 3' direction toward the fork, and it's replicated discontinuously. Now let's talk about the difference between continuous and discontinuous replication.