Final answer:
Schnös and Inman demonstrated that DNA replication is bidirectional, starting at an origin and proceeding in both directions, and discontinuous on the lagging strand where synthesis occurs in Okazaki fragments.
Step-by-step explanation:
Schnös and Inman contributed to our understanding of DNA replication by demonstrating that replication is bidirectional. This means that once replication begins at an origin of replication, the double helix unwinds, and replication proceeds in both directions away from the origin, creating two replication forks. Each of these replication forks involves a series of complex enzymatic processes, where DNA is synthesized continuously on the leading strand, while on the lagging strand, DNA is synthesized in short fragments called Okazaki fragments, which are later joined. This is what is referred to as discontinuous replication.
These findings were crucial in understanding the efficiency of DNA replication, especially in more complex eukaryotic cells which contain significantly more DNA than bacteria. Eukaryotes have adapted to this challenge by having multiple origins of replication allowing numerous replication bubbles to form and proceed bidirectionally. As each replicon enlarges, it eventually meets adjacent replicons, completing the replication of large spans of DNA.