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.
my answer is B
Correct! The Hershey-Chase experiment, conducted by Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase in 1952, provided evidence that DNA was the hereditary material. In this experiment, they used bacteriophages, which are viruses that specifically infect bacteria.
Hershey and Chase labeled the viral DNA with a radioactive isotope of phosphorus (32P) and labeled the viral proteins with a radioactive isotope of sulfur (35S). They allowed the bacteriophages to infect the bacterial cells, and then used various techniques to separate the viral particles from the bacterial cells.
By analyzing the radioactivity in the bacterial cells and in the viral particles, Hershey and Chase made an important observation. They found that radioactive phosphorus from the viral DNA was detected in the bacterial cells, while the radioactive sulfur from the viral proteins was not. This led them to conclude that DNA, rather than proteins, is the hereditary material that carries genetic information.
Therefore, the correct answer is b- radioactive phosphorus in viral DNA was shown to enter bacterial cells.