How are Okazaki fragments formed?

As DNA polymerase synthesizes a segment of DNA, it must pause and wait for helicase to unwind more of the DNA helix upstream. This process occurs on the lagging strand (for the purpose of synthesizing DNA in the 5’ to 3’ direction), leading to the formation of Okazaki fragments. When helicase unwinds the DNA, primase follows, laying down a new RNA primer that complements the template DNA. This primer allows DNA polymerase to bind to the DNA and synthesize a new Okazaki fragment.