Now, the question is, what exactly is the first process that takes place when our DNA replicates? Well, before our DNA is replicated, what must happen is our double stranded DNA molecule must actually unwind. So we see that in order for replication to actually occur, the two strands of DNA must first unwind. Now, the problem is a double stranded DNA molecule wants to naturally exist as a double strand because that is a stabilizing form. So to actually unwind our molecule, our cell must use special types of proteins, special types of enzymes known as the helicase enzyme. So our helicase binds to a location on our double stranded DNA known as the origin of replication.