How did Hershey and Chase know that it was the DNA that had infected the bacterial cells in their experiment?

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Biology

Melody Haynes

2 June, 08:45

How did Hershey and Chase know that it was the DNA that had infected the bacterial cells in their experiment?

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Meadow Avila · Answer 1

In their experiments, Hershey and Chase showed that when bacteriophages, which are composed of DNA and protein, infect bacteria, their DNA enters the host bacterial cell, but most of their protein does not. Hershey and Chase and subsequent discoveries all served to prove that DNA is the hereditary material.