Final answer:
The molecule that carries and inherits genetic information is deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). While initially proteins were thought to be the genetic material due to their complexity, definitive experiments, such as those by Chase and Hershey, confirmed DNA as the carrier of genetic information. RNA is also essential for expressing and regulating the genetic code contained within DNA.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Genetic Information Carriers.The molecule that carries genetic information and is inherited from one generation to another is deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Today, it is widely recognized that DNA is the genetic material, a blueprint that determines our traits. This was not always the accepted knowledge; proteins, with their vast array of amino acids, were once considered the most likely carriers of genetic information due to their complexity. Through definitive experiments, such as those conducted by Martha Chase and Alfred Hershey in 1952, it was established that DNA is indeed the genetic material. These experiments showed that DNA, not proteins, was the informational component transferred during transformation in viruses that infect bacteria. While DNA contains the long-term storage of genetic information, ribonucleic acid (RNA) is another type of nucleic acid involved in expressing the genetic information contained in DNA. RNA molecules, including messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and other specialized RNAs, play crucial roles in various biological processes such as protein synthesis and regulation of gene expression.