DNA Scientists

Frederick Griffith

first to reveal transforming principle which led to the discovery that DNA acts as a carrier of Genetic Information

Griffith's experiment

injected mice with an live R strain (mouse stayed healthy) and a live S strain (mouse died). He heated the S strain and the bacteria died. he injected the mouse with both the heated S strain and the live R strain and the mouse died. this created the theory of the transforming principal

Oswald Avery

his research helped discover that DNA is the substance responsible for heredity which set the foundation for the new science of molecular genetics

Avery's experiement

worked with bacteria and tested whether proteins or DNA were responsible for passing on traits. He started with the two types of bacteria: one harmless (R strain) and one deadly (S strain). When he mixed the R strain bacteria with heat-killed S strain bacteria, the R strain bacteria became deadly. he then separated different parts of the bacteria, such as proteins and DNA. He found that when he removed the DNA from the mixture, the transformation didn't happen. But if DNA was still present, the R strain bacteria turned into the deadly S strain type.

Alfred Hershey

Collaborated with Martha Chase in studying viruses. Helped to confirm that genetic is held and transmitted by DNA and not protein

Martha Chase

Collaborated with Alfred Hershey in studying viruses. Helped to confirm that genetic is held and transmitted by DNA and not protein

Hershey and Chase

Their experiment with bacteriophages confirmed Avery's results. This conceived many scientists that DNA was the genetic material found in genes not just viruses and bacteria, but also living cells

Erwin Chargaff

He wanted to find the exact amounts of certain chemicals found in DNA. To do this he used paper chromatography to separate different chemicals found in DNA. Then he used UV spectrophotometry to calculate the exact amounts of adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine

Roselind Franklin

She studied DNA, Her X-ray pattern does not reveal the structure of DNA but it carried some important clues: The X-shaped pattern shows that the strands in DNA are twisted around each other like the coils of a spring, a shape known as a helix, the angle of the X suggests that there are two strands in the structure, the nitrogenous bases are near the center of the DNA molecule.

Maurice Wilkins

Was a british biophysicist whose X-ray diffraction studies of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) proved critical to use determination of DNA's molecular structure

James Watson

worked in a "Cavendish Laboratory" on the structure of DNA when he met Francis Crick who had the same interests and started working together. In 1953 they made a structure of a DNA molecule and this was the most important scientific discovery of the 20th century

Francis Crick

met James Watson at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England. In 1953 the pair discovered the double helix and eventually won the Nobel Prize for it in 1962

Watson and Crick

discovered double-helix structure of DNA in 1953. This is renowned as "groundbreaking" because it is said to have altered our understanding of genetics at the time of its discovery and now.