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This article traces the historical development of DNA technology, from Friedrich Miescher's discovery of nucleic acid in 1869 to Watson and Crick's elucidation of the double helix in 1953.
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Miescher • 1869 • removed substance from pus off of old bandages • had acid properties, came from nucleus • called it “nucleic acid”
1928 - Frederick Griffith 1865 “Rough” colonies “Smooth” colonies Transformation of Streptococcus pneumoniae Living S cells Living R cells Heat killed S cells Heat killed S cells mixed with living R cells Living S cells in blood sample from dead mouse capsule Bacterial Strain Injection Results
Griffith • smooth and rough bacteria • dead smooth could “transform” live rough cells • “accidental” discovery
1944 - Avery, MacLeod & McCarty 1865 Purified DNA as transforming factor • Work not well-received • Protein more complex & better able to store information Oswald Avery Colin MacLeod Maclyn McCarty
Avery, McLeod, McCarty • separated cellular molecules • tested each for “transforming” abilities • carbohydrates, lipids, proteins were ineffective • only nucleic acids “transformed” the cells
1952 - Hershey & Chase 1865 Viral DNA (not protein) programs cells Bacteriophages Martha Chase & Alfred Hershey
1952 - Hershey & Chase 1865 Radioactive protein (35S) Centrifuge and measure radioactivity in pellet and supernatant T2 Phage Bacterium Radioactivity in supernatant, but not pellet Radioactive phage infects bacterial cells Blender separates protein coats from bacterial surface
1952 - Hershey & Chase 1865 Radioactive DNA (32P) Radioactivity in pellet, but not supernatant Therefore, it is the viral DNA, and not protein, that programs cells to make copies of the virus.
Hershey and Chase • chose “organism” composed only of protein and nucleic acid • infected cells with viruses tagged with radioisotopes • tagged proteins were not transferred • tagged nucleic acids were transferred
1865 1947 - Erwin Chargoff DNA bases follow certain “rules” • Base composition is species specific • A = T, C = G for all species
Chargaff • analyzed percentage of each base in DNA samples • found adenine % = thymine% • found cytosine % = guanine %
1953 - Franklin & Wilkins 1865 Elucidation of the helical nature of DNA Rosalind Franklin Photographic film X-ray source Crystallized DNA Maurice Wilkins
Wilkins and Franklin • X-ray crystallography on DNA to establish shape, dimensions of molecule
1953 - Watson & Crick 1865 Description of the 3-D structure of DNA Francis Crick & James Watson
Watson and Crick • did no original research/ relied on work of others • analyzed X-ray crystallography, biochemistry • hypothesized double-stranded helix in 1953
1953 - Watson & Crick 1865 • What they deduced from: • Franklin’s X-ray data • Double helix • Uniform width of 2 nm • Bases stacked 0.34 nm apart • Chargoff’s “rules” • Adenine pairs with thymine • Cytosine pairs with guanine
1953 - Watson & Crick 1865 • What they came up with on their own: • Bases face inward, phosphates and sugars outward • Hydrogen bonding • Hinted at semi-conservative model for replication