Quiz 9: Dna Structure and Replication

The bases in DNA form a sequence and the sugars and phosphates do not; therefore, the bases impart information.

By conducting their blender experiments with labeled sulfur as well as phosphorus, Hershey and Chase showed that protein does not instruct infected bacterial cells to manufacture virus, and that DNA does. Meselson and Stahl used density shift experiments. The pattern of incorporation of a label into newly synthesized DNA demonstrated that replication is semi-conservative, and also that it is not conservative or dispersive.

Pyrimidine and purine pairing makes the width of the molecule constant, enabling it to wind into a sleek double helix.