In: Biology
How was the chemical nature of the gene discovered?
1) in 1869 - Miescher discovered nuclear material contained a substance that was acidic and high in Phosphorus. termed nuclein.
2) in 1928 - Griffith did experiment on Streptococcus pneumoniae: two types s type and r type
s type- virulent: caused lethal pneumonia
r type - non-virulent: doesn?t kill mice
he did following experiment-
strain injected effects blood analysis
r Type none dead no bacteria present
s Type all dead s Type present
killed s Type none dead no bacteria present
killed s Type + r Type all dead s Type present
so he conclude that something is present in s type which converts r type to s type. but he is not sure whether it is protein or the DNA.
upto 1940's it is believed that protein is the genetic material but
1944 - Avery, McLeod and McCarthy Proved that the transforming substance is DNA.
so they made a soluble cell extract from s Type and tested the ability to transform r Type into s Type.
they did 3 treatments
(a) one that destroys proteins = protease
(b) one that destroys RNA = RNAase
(c) one that destroys DNA = DNAase
and did the transformation experiment
Results
experiment condition Transformation of r type Transforming Substance
A. S extract alone YES No idea
B. S extract + protease YES NOT PROTEIN
C. S extract + RNAase YES NOT RNA
D. S extract + DNAase NO must be DNA