Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/averymacleodmccarty-experiment

1. Who discovered Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment?
2. What is the discoverers?
3. What is the publication date?
4. What did the 1944 experiment discover about DNA?
5. How did scientists test whether proteins or DNA were the transforming principle?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who discovered Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment?DNA is the transforming principle responsible for bacterial heredity
2. What is the discoverers?Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty
3. What is the publication date?February 1944
4. What did the 1944 experiment discover about DNA?It showed that DNA, not protein, is the hereditary material in bacteria. This means DNA carries the instructions that make each organism unique.
5. How did scientists test whether proteins or DNA were the transforming principle?They broke down proteins with proteases and DNA with nucleases. When proteins were destroyed, bacteria still transformed, but when DNA was destroyed, transformation stopped.

Transforming Principle: The substance responsible for transferring genetic traits from one bacterium to another, identified as DNA.
Macromolecule: A very large molecule, such as DNA or protein, essential for life.
Enzymatic Degradation: The process of breaking down molecules using specific enzymes.
Paradigm Shift: A fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline.