If you can’t see it how can you tell what it is made of? Discovering DNA If you can’t see it how can you tell what it is made of?

DNA Ground Zero: What we knew to start with 1) Parents pass genetic traits on to their offspring (inheritance) 2) Chromosomes in a cell’s nucleus carry the traits 3) Chromosomes are made of DNA and Proteins (histones) So we can conclude that….. Genetic info is carried by either DNA or protein

Many scientists contributed to discovering the structure of DNA 1) Griffith – bacteria give genetic traits to other bacteria. the trait they passed on was ability to secrete a capsule Didn’t know if DNA or protein was being traded

2) Avery – 1st to show DNA is the genetic material. Showed that only DNA could transfer a trait from one bacteria to another…. give rough bacteria the ability to make a capsule

3) Hershey and Chase – conclusive evidence that DNA is genetic material Background: 1) Viruses are only made of DNA and Protein 2) Viruses transfer their genes to other cells 3) DNA has phosphate, but Protein does not 4) Bacteriophage Viruses inject genetic material into bacteria

Hershey and Chase Experiment: 1) create viruses with radioactive DNA 2) Let viruses put their genetic material into a bacteria 3) If the bacteria is then radioactive, the genetic material is DNA 4) If the bacteria is NOT radioactive, the genetic material is Protein

4) Chargaff - Showed that there was always the same amount of A nucleotides as T nucleotides and There were always the same amount of G as C Chargaff’s Rule: A=T G=C Clue this gave Watson and Crick….. A is linked to T and G is linked to C

5) Franklin- Background: DNA molecules are too small to see with a microscope Visible light’s wavelenth is too long & goes around it X – rays have shorter wavelenth and bend around DNA Bending light is called diffraction The pattern of bending can be used to identify the shape of the object that bends it

Franklin’s Experiment – Took X-ray diffraction photos of DNA Measured the diffraction patterns and concluded DNA was a helix and calculated the diameter of the DNA molecule

6) Watson & Crick Based on the fact that DNA contains the 5-carbon sugar Deoxyribose. Based on Chargaff’s Rule : DNA contains the nitrogenous bases A, T, G and C Based on Franklin’s photo showing a helical shape

Watson & Crick Constructed the first working Model of DNA’s structure

The Players: 1) Griffith – bacteria give genetic traits to other bacteria. 2) Avery – 1st to show that DNA is the genetic material. 3) Hershey & Chase – Showed conclusively that DNA is the genetic material 4) Chargaff – A = T and G = C 5) Franklin – x-ray diffraction 6) Watson & Crick – model of DNA

DNA structure DNA is made of subunits called Nucleotides Nucleotides are made of 3 parts 1) one 5 carbon sugar 2) phosphate 3) nitrogen containing base

Nucleotides are bonded together in 2 chains covalent bonds hold one nucleotide to the next The strong bonds between phosphates and sugars forms the backbone of the double helix

2 chains of nucleotides are held together by weak Hydrogen bonds between their bases

The two joined strands are twisted into a double helix. The cell stores DNA wrapped around proteins called histones Further wrapping of DNA forms the X-shape Seen in mitosis