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The Hershey-Chase Experiment quiz

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  • Who conducted the Hershey-Chase experiment and in what year?
    Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase conducted the experiment in 1952.
  • What type of organism did Hershey and Chase use in their experiment?
    They used bacteriophages, which are viruses that infect bacteria.
  • What are bacteriophages also commonly called?
    Bacteriophages are also called phages.
  • What are the two main components of a bacteriophage?
    A bacteriophage consists of an external protein coat and a nucleic acid core.
  • What was the main scientific debate before the Hershey-Chase experiment?
    Scientists debated whether DNA or protein was the genetic material.
  • How did Hershey and Chase label the protein coat of the bacteriophage?
    They used radioactive sulfur to label the protein coat.
  • How did Hershey and Chase label the DNA of the bacteriophage?
    They used radioactive phosphorus to label the DNA.
  • During infection, which part of the bacteriophage entered the bacterial cell?
    Only the viral DNA entered the bacterial cell.
  • What happened to the radioactively labeled protein during the experiment?
    The radioactively labeled protein remained outside the bacterial cell.
  • What did the presence of radioactive DNA inside bacteria indicate?
    It indicated that DNA, not protein, is the genetic material.
  • Why was radioactive sulfur used to label protein but not DNA?
    Because sulfur is found in proteins but not in DNA.
  • Why was radioactive phosphorus used to label DNA but not protein?
    Because phosphorus is found in DNA but not in proteins.
  • What did the Hershey-Chase experiment conclusively demonstrate?
    It conclusively demonstrated that DNA is the genetic material.
  • How did the Hershey-Chase experiment end the scientific controversy?
    It provided clear evidence that DNA, not protein, carries genetic information.
  • What process do bacteriophages use to replicate themselves?
    Bacteriophages replicate by infecting and hijacking bacterial cells.