The Race to Discover DNA

Flashcards about the race to discover DNA

Central Dogma of Molecular Biology

The flow of genetic information within a biological system.

Friedrich Miescher

First identified DNA as a cellular component in 1869 while analyzing pus cells, calling it 'nuclein'.

Joachim Hammerling

In the early 1930s, used unicellular Acetabularia alga to demonstrate the nucleus's importance in cell regrowth and repair.

Frederick Griffith

Discovered bacterial transformation through experiments with pneumonia-causing bacteria (smooth and rough colonies).

Bacterial Transformation

The process by which non-deadly bacteria are transformed into deadly bacteria.

Avery, McCarty, and MacLeod

Proved that DNA, not proteins, was responsible for bacterial transformation by repeating Griffith's experiment with enzyme-destroying substances.

Hershey-Chase Experiment

Used bacteriophages with radiolabeled protein coats (Sulfur-35) and DNA (Phosphorus-32) to confirm that DNA carries the genetic code.

Bacteriophage

A virus that infects bacteria, consisting of a DNA core and a protein coat.

Linus Pauling

Discovered the alpha-helical structure of proteins in the 1940s.

Erwin Chargaff

Discovered that DNA has equal amounts of Adenine and Thymine, and equal amounts of Guanine and Cytosine, known as Chargaff's Rule.

Chargaff's Rule

Equal amounts of Adenine and Thymine, and equal amounts of Guanine and Cytosine in DNA.

Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin

Took X-Ray diffraction image of DNA in 1951

James Watson and Francis Crick

Compiled data from previous scientists to build a double-helical model of DNA in 1953.

DNA Composition

Composed of four nucleotides: Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, and Cytosine, arranged in a double-helix with a sugar-phosphate backbone.

Base-Pairing Rules

Adenine bonds with Thymine, and Guanine bonds with Cytosine in DNA.