Question

In the hershey-chase experiment, bacterial cultures infected with a virus were agitated in a kitchen blender to _____.

Answer 1

The Hershey-Chase experiment was a key experiment in the field of biolgy that established DNA has the inheritable genetic material between the generations of organisms.

In the hershey-chase experiment, bacterial cultures infected with a virus were agitated in a kitchen blender to detach the phage from the bacteria. This step was followed by centrifugation to separate the phage coats from the bacteria.

Answer 2

The Hershey and Chase experiments showed that the inherited genetic material was DNA (deoxyribonucleic acids). In this experiment, the scientists labelled the DNA molecule with a radioactive isotope of phosphorus.

Centrifugation causes the separation of different components according to their size. So, by blending, they centrifugated the mixture of virus and the bacteria, which separated the viral protein capsule and the bacteria. Later, they found that the virus infected bacteria contains the DNA of bacteria, not the protein.

Hence, bacterial cultures infected with a virus were agitated in a kitchen blender to separate the protein coat of virus from the bacteria.