AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -In 1952, Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase took an effort to find the genetic material in organisms. Their experiments led to an unequivocal proof to DNA as genetic material. Bacteriophages (viruses that affect bacteria) were the key element for Hershey and Chase experiment.

Detailed explanation-2: -Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase showed that only the DNA of a virus needs to enter a bacterium to infect it. Their experiment provided strong support for the idea that genes are made of DNA. They firmly restated the conclusion that Avery, et al. had more tentatively proposed in 1944.

Detailed explanation-3: -For example, in 1952 Hershey and Martha Chase were able to demonstrate that DNA was transferred from bacteriophages to bacteria, a discovery that confirmed DNA as the bearer of genetic information.

Detailed explanation-4: -Hershey and Chase’s Experiment (1952) Further evidence that DNA is the genetic material came from experiments conducted by Hershey and Chase. These researchers studied the transmission of genetic information in a virus called the T2 bacteriophage, which used Escherichia coli as its host bacterium (Figure 1.2. 4).

Detailed explanation-5: -The Hershey and Chase experiments used bacteriophages, or viruses capable of infecting bacteria, in order to determine whether genes were made of proteins or DNA. Hershey and Chase labeled the protein coats of one set of bacteriophages with sulfur and the DNA of a second set with phosphorus.