Polymerase is an enzyme capable of transcribing or replicating nucleic acids, which are crucial in cell division (DNA polymerase) and DNA transcription (RNA polymerase).

DNA polymerase and RNA polymerase are used to assemble DNA and RNA molecules, respectively, by copying a template strand of DNA using base-pairing interactions or RNA by half-step replication.

DNA polymerase is the enzyme that carries out the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a technique that has played an essential role in the development of genetics.