Question

Describe Avery, MacLeod and McCarty's experiment that helped show that R-type bacteria could be transformed to S-type bacteria with DNA, but not RNA or protein.

Answer 1

The Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty experiment showed DNA as the genetic material responsible for transforming nonpathogenic R-type bacteria into pathogenic S-type by process of elimination using enzymes that degraded proteins, RNA, and DNA.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty experiment conducted in 1944 helped to demonstrate that DNA is the substance responsible for the transformation of R-type bacteria to S-type bacteria, a discovery crucial to the understanding of genetic material. They systematically destroyed different molecular components of heat-killed S-cell bacteria - proteins, RNA, and DNA - using specific enzymes.

Transformation tests on R-strain bacteria with each mixture revealed that only when DNA was not destroyed did the transformation occur, leading to the conclusion that DNA, not RNA or protein, was the transforming principle.