key concept 13.1 Experiments Revealed the Function of DNA as Genetic Material

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By the early twentieth century, geneticists had associated the presence of genes with chromosomes. Research began to focus on exactly which chemical component of chromosomes composed the genetic material.

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  • Cell staining techniques provided the first pieces of evidence that DNA was the genetic material.

  • Experiments showed that one strain of bacteria could be genetically transformed to another strain and that DNA was the transforming agent.

  • Experiments using radiolabeled protein and DNA identified DNA as the material injected by a virus during its infection of a host cell.