Michelle S.

Ragay GENETICS
BS BIOLOGY – II 03-10-2021

Activity 3
Parallel Experiments Providing Direct Evidence
as to the Actual Genetic Material

Introduction:
Before the Griffith, Hershey and Chase experiments, there was still a doubt as to what is
really the actual transmitter of heredity. It was still a debate between DNA or Protein.

Objectives:
At the end of the activity, the students should be able to:
1. Determine which is the actual genetic material DNA or Protein
2. Cite how the Griffith experiment provided direct evidence as to what is the actual
genetic material;
3. Cite how DNA became unchallenged as genetic material after the Hershey and Chase
experiment
Materials and Methods:
Recall both studied experiments and recall how each was done

Observations:
1. What is the objective of Griffith’s experiment?
Griffith developed the concept of the transforming principle. The prinicple was able
to transform a non-pathogenic bacteria into a pathogenic strain. Changing phenotype
is one of the characteristics of the hereditary material.
He assumed this transforming principle as genetic material. Griffith experiment was a
turning point towards the discovery of hereditary material. However, it failed to
explain the biochemistry of genetic material.

2. How about Hershey and Chase?

Hershey and Chase aimed to show where the phage DNA went when it exited the
protein coat and entered the bacteria. The researchers allowed radioactive
 phosphorus-labeled phages to attach to bacterial cell membranes in a liquid solution
and infect the bacteria.

3. What parallelism can see in your experiment to carry out in your objective?
Both experiment carry out about the genetic material. Griffith's experiment was the first
experiment suggesting that bacteria are capable of transferring genetic information
through a process known as transformation. While the Hershey–Chase experiments were
a series of experiments that helped to confirm that DNA is genetic material and not
proteins.

Conclusion:
How should an experiment like this be done using scientific method?
Experiments like this can be done using scientific method by using the proper
equipments, experimenting in a laboratory, precise and protocols must be followed. And
also experiments must be reproducible, which means that an independent scientists in a
different laboratory, when provided with the same equipment and protocols, should get
comparable results.

Sketch both experiment of Griffith, Hershey and Chase and cite what is transformation
and transfection.
Griffith concluded that the R-strain bacteria must have taken up what he called a
"transforming principle" from the heat-killed S bacteria, which allowed them to
"transform" into smooth-coated bacteria and become virulent.
Hershey and Chase knew that the phages attached to the surface of a host bacterial cell
and injected some substance (either DNA or protein) into the host. This substance gave
"instructions" that caused the host bacterium to start making lots and lots of phages—in
other words, it was the phage's genetic material.