 Since DNA polymerase cannot add bases in the 3′→5′ direction complementary to the template strand, DNA is synthesized ‘backward’ in short fragments moving away from the replication fork, known as Okazaki fragments.Unlike in the leading strand, this method results in the repeated starting and stopping of DNA synthesis, requiring multiple RNA primers.Along the DNA template, primase intersperses RNA primers that DNA polymerase uses to synthesize DNA from in the 5′→3′ direction.