BIOE 185 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Thomas Hunt Morgan, Maclyn Mccarty, Enterobacteria Phage T2
Document Summary
Dna as genetic material: historic experiments, dna structure, and gene properties. We mentioned in the previous lecture that gregor mendel discovered the rules governing the transmission of hereditary information before the identity of genetic material was known. Let"s review some of the key experiments that finally identified genetic material as dna. By the early 1900s, the hypothesis that maybe chromosomes play a role in heredity was gaining popularity. One of the most decisive experiments was conducted in. 1910 by thomas hunt morgan, who was working with mutant white-eyed fruit flies. He observed that heredity of this trait was associated with the x chromosome and, thus, concluded that inheritance of traits must be tied to chromosomes. Morgan later received a nobel prize for this discovery. However, because chromosomes are made up of both proteins and dna, it was not known which of these might be the genetic material responsible for heredity.
