Hershey and Chase

• 1952: 𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙎𝙃𝙀𝙔 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙎𝙀

  • Viruses grown in radioactive sulfur had radio-labelled proteins.
  • Viruses grown in radioactive phosphorus had radio-labelled DNA.
  • The viruses were then allowed to infect an E. coli bacterium and then they were separated via centrifugation. The larger bacteria formed a solid pellet whereas the smaller viruses remained in the supernatant.
  • The bacterial pellet was found to be radioactive when infected by the P-viruses (DNA) but not the S-viruses (protein) == DNA was the genetic material transferred to the bacteria by the viruses.