Alfred Hershey Presentation by: Alana Kitchen, Davis Riggins, and Mary Allen

2. Early Life and Education
• On December 4 1908, Alfred Hershey was born in Owosso
Michigan.
• In 1930, while attending Michigan State University, he
received his B.S. in chemistry, and his Ph.D in bacteriology in
1934.
• Shortly after graduating, Hershey began work in the
Department of Bacteriology at Washington University.
• He moved to New York in 1950 to join the Department of
Genetics.

3. DNA
Alfred Hershey’s Book,
• In 1952, Alfred Hershey Partnered “We Can Sleep Later
with Martha Chase to conduct various
experiments which led to the
confirmation that DNA was genetic
material.
• Hershey believed that proteins were
carriers of genetic information. In
order to prove this, he tracked the
transfer of proteins and DNA between
virus and its host.
• But Hershey and Chase needed to
demonstrate that a portion of protein
mass was transferred to the inside of
the bacterium. So they conducted
experiments with a blender.
• After conducting this experiment,
Alfred Hershey wrote the book, “We
Can Sleep Later.”

4. Blender • Alfred Hershey and Martha
Experiments Chase in 1953
In their first experiment, they tagged
DNA with Phosphorous-32. The
researchers could track the location
of DNA and protein according to the
radiation concentrations. They added
the bacterial sample and blended the
infected bacteria. This caused the
proteins shells to detach. They
separated the bacterium from
protein. After completing their
experiment, they found that a
protein shell was not needed for
replication process following the
insertion of genetic material.

5. DEATH AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Alfred Hershey died on May 22,
1997. He is remembered mostly for
his contributions to the
understanding of the chemical
basis of heredity. Hershey is
revered for his unwavering respect
of the scientific method and of his
scientist colleagues. In 1962, Alfred
Hershey was awarded the Noble
Prize in Medicine. Hershey was
most remembered and respected
for his contribution and discovery
of DNA replication with Martha
Chase in 1952

6. Hershey Bar

7. References:
http://paulingblog.wordpress.com/
2009/08/18/the-hershey-chase-
blender-experiments/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred
_Hershey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hersh
ey-Chase_experiment