DNA Experiments—Fredrick Griffth’s
Experiment
1. Name the bacteria that Fredrick Griffith worked with during his experiment.
2. Why was Griffith using this bacterium in his experiment?
3. Describe two characteristics about each of the two types of bacteria that
Griffith used in his experiment.
4. Explain why the S bacteria killed the mice the first time, but not the second
time Griffith’s injected them with the bacteria.
5. Why could the R bacteria kill the mice when mixed with the S bacteria?
DNA Experiments—Hershey-Chase Experiment
1. What was the “guiding” question that led the Hershey-Chase experiment? In
other words, what were they trying to figure out?
2. Explain what a “bacteriophage” is and name the one that Hershey and Chase
used in their experiment.
3. Why did Hershey and Chase use radioactive phosphorus and sulfur in their
experiment? What was each supposed to follow?
4. What was the purpose of putting the infected bacteria in the centrifuge?
5. Why did the Hershey-Chase experiment prove that DNA was hereditary
material?
DNA and RNA Location and Shape
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2.
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Why is DNA found in only the nucleus?
Name the three things that can damage your DNA or RNA.
How does DNA get its genetic information out to the ribosomes?
Explain the relationship between DNA, genes, and chromosomes.
Name the two shapes that DNA and RNA have and explain why they have
these two shapes.
DNA and RNA Components
1. Name the three main components found in each nucleotide. How do these
components differ between DNA and RNA?
2. What precisely determines our genes?
3. Name the two groups that our nitrogenous bases can be grouped into.
Which bases belong to which group?
4. What is the long name for DNA and RNA?
5. DNA and RNA are polymers of which macromolecules?
DNA and RNA
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Explain what “anti-parallelism” means.
Describe how Watson and Crick were able to determine the shape of DNA.
How many chromosomes does each human cell contain?
Name Chargaff’s three rules for base pairing?
What are the three types of RNA and what is the function of each?
Replication
1. Explain what “semi-conservative replication” means.
2. Name the four proteins that are involved in replication and explain why each
is important to the process of replication.
3. What were the names of the two individuals that supported the idea of semiconservative replication?
4. Why is DNA replication necessary to living organisms?
5. What happens if a change occurs when DNA is copied? In other words,
what term do we use to describe this change in the DNA?