DNA History

Question 1

What did Frederick Griffith discover?

Answer 1

Discovered that bacteria could give other bacteria heritable traits, even after they were dead

Question 2

What did Avery, Macleod and McCarty realize?

Answer 2

Griffith’s observations could be used to identify genetic material

Question 3

What did Hershey and Chase convince the scientific community of?

Answer 3

that it was DNA, and not protein, that made up genetic material.

Question 4

How did the T2 bacteriophage prove that DNA, not protein, was what made up genetic material?

Answer 4

This virus injects its DNA into the bacterial cell while its protein coat stays on the outside.

Question 5

What does DNA structure suggest about DNA replication?

Answer 5

Replication occurs via complementary base pairing (adenine pairs with thymine, guanine pairs with cytosine)
Replication is bi-directional (proceeds in opposite directions on the two strands) due to the antiparallel nature of the strands