The Hershey-Chase experiment proved that DNA was the hereditary material because?
A)radioactive phosphorus in viral proteins was shown not to enter bacterial cells.
B)radioactive phosphorus in viral DNA was shown to enter bacterial cells.
C)radioactive sulfur in viral proteins was shown to enter bacterial cells.
D)radioactive sulfur in viral DNA was shown not to enter bacterial cells.
I been trying to figure out if my answers were right to with no luck! I have read so much and the wording is throwing me off bad. Just few words different and I'm flustered
thank ya much
You're welcome.
To determine the answer to this question, we need to understand the Hershey-Chase experiment and its results. The experiment was conducted by Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase in 1952.
In the experiment, Hershey and Chase used a bacteriophage, which is a virus that infects bacteria. Bacteriophages have two components: protein and DNA. They wanted to determine which component of the bacteriophage was responsible for transmitting the hereditary material.
Hershey and Chase used two different radioactive isotopes, phosphorus-32 (32P) and sulfur-35 (35S), to label the DNA and protein, respectively. They then allowed the labeled bacteriophages to infect bacteria.
The key result of the experiment was that when the bacteriophages were labeled with radioactive phosphorus (32P), which only labels DNA, most of the radioactivity was found inside the bacterial cells. On the other hand, when the bacteriophages were labeled with radioactive sulfur (35S), which only labels protein, most of the radioactivity remained outside the bacterial cells.
Based on these results, the conclusion drawn from the Hershey-Chase experiment was that DNA, not protein, is the hereditary material. This conclusion was reached because only when the DNA was labeled could the radioactivity be detected inside the bacterial cells, suggesting that the DNA was injected into the cells during viral infection.
Therefore, the correct answer to the question is B) radioactive phosphorus in viral DNA was shown to enter bacterial cells.