During PCR, primers bind to the DNA strands in the __________ step.

Step-by-step solution

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) involves three main steps: 1. Denaturation: The double-stranded DNA is heated to separate it into two single strands. 2. Annealing: The temperature is lowered to allow the oligonucleotide primers to bind (anneal) to their complementary sequences on the single-stranded DNA templates. 3. Extension: The temperature is raised, and Taq DNA polymerase synthesizes the new DNA strand by adding nucleotides to the primers. Therefore, primers bind to the DNA strands during the annealing step. A