Question

The key findings of Hershey and chase experiments on the mechanism of viral replication was that:
A. Protein, not DNA, is the hereditary material.
B. DNA, not protein, is the hereditary material.
C. Protein and DNA play an equal role in determining inheritance.
D. Neither protein nor DNA play a role in determining inheritance

Answer 1

Hint: The process of genes being passed from parents to children is referred to as inheritance. Genetic qualities are passed down through inheritance from parents to their offspring, who receive all of their parents' genetic material.

Complete step by step solution:
Genetics is frequently used to refer to heredity, which is the passing on of genetic traits from one generation to the next. The passage of genetic features and their manifestation from one generation to the next is shown by inheritance. Evolutionary transformation requires genetic inheritance. It explains how genes are transmitted down across generations. Therefore, it may initially seem odd that life history research rarely takes into account genetic inheritance.
Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase began looking for the genetic makeup of organisms in 1952. Their research provided conclusive evidence that DNA is the genetic substance. The main component of the Hershey and Chase experiment was bacteriophages, which are viruses that influence bacteria. They noticed that the radioactive DNA-carrying bacteria that was virus-infected was radioactive, whereas the non-radioactive protein-carrying bacteria was not, proving conclusively that DNA is the genetic material that was transferred from virus to bacteria. Hershey and Chase arrived at the notion that genetic information was held in DNA rather than proteins. Scientists quickly and more universally accepted the Hershey-Chase research than Avery's discoveries on bacterial alterations.
So, option (B) is correct.

Note:
Because bacteria treat the viral genetic material as their own, additional virus particles are produced. Thus, it may be claimed that the experiment by Hershey and Chase was founded on the concept of transduction.