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The Avery and Hershey-Chase Experiments

• Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase provided the

final experimental evidence that pointed to DNA

as the hereditary material the team studied viruses that infect bacteria

-the structure of these viruses is very simple: a core of

DNA surrounded by a coat of protein

-the viruses attach themselves to the surface of

bacteria cells and inject their genes into the interior

• the infected bacterial cell is then forced to make hundreds of

copies of new viruses, which then burst out of the cell to

infect new cells.

• Hershey and Chase used radioactive

isotopes to "label" or tag the DNA and the

protein of the viruses

-some viruses were grown so that their DNA

contained radioactive phosporous (32P)

-other viruses were grown so that their protein

coats contained radioactive sulfur (35S)

After the labeled viruses

were allowed to infect

bacteria, only the viruses

with 32 P had labeled

tracer in their interior

• The conclusion was that

the genes that viruses

use to specify new

viruses are made of DNA

and not protein

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