Imagine you want to build a big Lego structure with your friends. Before you start, you need to make sure everyone has the right pieces and instructions. This is kind of like what happens in a cell.
When a cell wants to make a new copy of its DNA, it first needs to get everything ready. It makes a list of all the pieces it needs and checks that it has them. This list is called the pre-replication complex.
The pre-replication complex is like a team of workers that gets everything set up for DNA replication. It checks that all the DNA is in the right place, and that all the tools and enzymes are ready to go. It makes sure that the DNA is unwound and ready to be copied.
Once the pre-replication complex has finished checking everything, it signals to the rest of the cell that it's time to start replicating the DNA. This is like the starter gun at a race, telling all the runners it's time to go.
So basically, the pre-replication complex is like a checklist that gets the cell's DNA ready to be copied. It makes sure everything is in order before the actual DNA replication can start.