2. In 1944, Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty set out to identify the chemical agent c

Question

2. In 1944, Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty set out to identify the chemical agent capable of transforming mutant unencapsulated Pheumococcus to the deadly encapsulated form. They isolated a vis- cous substance with the chemical and physical properties of and showed that it was capable of transformation. Transformation could still occur if proteases (enzymes that degrade proteins) or ribonucleases (enzymes that degrade RNA) were added prior to the experiment. What did these treatments tell the investigators about the molecular identity of the transforming factor?

Explanation / Answer

These experiments clearify that that the discovered substance that is capable of transfroming unencapsulated strain to encapsulated strain is DNA only. Digesting with ribonucleases shows that it is not RNA and digesting with proteases shows that it is not a protein.

So, only remaining substance that is capable to presenting such results is the remaining DNA.

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