Question

After allowing phages grown with bacteria in a medium that contained 32P and 35S, Hershey and Chase used a centrifuge to separate the phage ghosts from the infected cell. They then examined the infected cells and found that theycontained _____, which demonstrated that _____ is the phage's genetic material.

Answer 1

Answer:

After allowing phages grown with bacteria in a medium that contained 32P and 35S, Hershey and Chase used a centrifuge to separate the phage ghosts from the infected cell. They then examined the infected cells and found that they contain labeled DNA, which demonstrated that DNA is the phage's genetic material.

Explanation:

In 1952, Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase conducted a series of experiments called the Hershey-Chase experiments, which helped them proved that DNA is a genetic material.

In the experiment, Hershey and Chase used T2 phage(a bacteriophage). They labeled its DNA with radioactive phosphorus-32 or 32P. They observed that when the phage infected E. coli, the radioactive element was found in the bacterium, concluding that the DNA material entered the bacterium when the phage infected it. While, in another experiment, they used radioactive Sulphur-35 to label phage's protein. When the same phage was attached to the bacterium, it was found that 35S labeled protein did not enter the host bacterial cell instead it remained outside. Thus they concluded that DNA is the phage's genetic material.