HERSHEY CHASE

EXPERIMENTBridget Dooling,

Connor Forlini,

Emily O’Donnell,

Staci Schaffling

Background

Hershey and Chase were testing two hypotheses that were both competing against each other.

DNA was the genetic material Protein was the genetic material.

DNA vs. Protein

Early biologist thought that proteins carried genetic information

Was thought that it was protein over DNA because proteins are more complex

What caused the experiment In 1944, an experiment took place that

suggested that DNA was the genetic material.

Science community was uncertain on which was true

This is why the Hershey and Chase experiment took place, they wanted to determine the exact outcome of whether it was DNA or proteins that carried the genetic information

Hershey Chase Experiment Video Explanation

Watch This!

You want to use a radioactive tracer that will label only the protein in an RNA virus. Assume the virus is composed of only a protein coat and an RNA core. Which of the following would you use? Be sure to explain your answer referring to the Hershey Chase Experiment.

The choices

A) Radioactive P B) Radioactive N C) Radioactive S D) Radioactive C

The Right answer!!

A) radioactive P The answer is radioactive P because

when you look at the experiment radioactive Phosphorus made the DNA radioactive. Radioactive Sulfur made the outer shell of the virus(Phage) radioactive but not DNA.

We can exclude Radioactive Carbon and Nitrogen from the beginning because they were not used in the experiment