Question

Question 1.

In the classical Hershey Chase experiment that showed DNA was the molecule of inheritance, in their experiment, what they did was infect bacterial cells that had been grown in the presence of radioactive phosphorus with bacteriophage T2. However, both the phage RNA and DNA incorporated the labeled phosphorus. Why were the experimental results Hershey and Chase obtained not affected?

Answer 1

Answer:

The experimental results Hershey and Chase obtained was not affected because of the following:

• Hershey and Chase used T2 phage, a bacteriophage. The phage infects a bacterium by attaching to it and injecting its genetic material into it (after a phage particle attaches to the bacterium, its DNA enters through a tiny hole while its protein coat remains outside).They observed that phage DNA was injected into the bacterial cells while phage proteins were not. They concluded that DNA is the genetic material.

Classical Hershey Chase experiment: An important experiment that helped to convince the world that DNA was the genetic material.The experiment had a powerful conclusion that helped in the current understanding of DNA, genetics and heredity.