Medical Definition of Hershey-chase experiment
1.
A landmark experiment done in 1952 which showed that DNA is the hereditary material.
The experiment, done by Martha Hershey and Alfred Chase, involved allowing a bacteriophage which contained DNA labelled with 32P (an isotope of phosphorus) and a protein labelled with 35S (an isotope of sulphur) to attach to some bacteria.
When the bacteriophages were later removed, they found that it was the 32P (and thus the DNA) that had entered the bacterial cells rather than the 35S (indicating the protein).
(09 Oct 1997)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Hershey-chase Experiment
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