Hershey–Chase experiment
E629010
The Hershey–Chase experiment was a landmark 1952 study in molecular biology that used bacteriophages to demonstrate that DNA, rather than protein, is the genetic material.
All labels observed (3)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Hershey–Chase experiment canonical | 4 |
| Hershey–Chase experiment paper | 1 |
| Hershey–Chase research team | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T6934346 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Hershey–Chase experiment Context triple: [Phage Group, contributedTo, Hershey–Chase experiment]
-
A.
Luria–Delbrück experiment
The Luria–Delbrück experiment was a landmark 1943 study in bacterial genetics that demonstrated mutations arise randomly rather than in response to selective pressure, providing key evidence for the genetic basis of evolution.
-
B.
Alfred Hershey
Alfred Hershey was an American bacteriologist and geneticist best known for the Hershey–Chase experiment, which helped establish DNA as the genetic material.
-
C.
Oswald Avery
Oswald Avery was a Canadian-American physician and molecular biologist best known for demonstrating that DNA is the material responsible for heredity.
-
D.
Martha Chase
Martha Chase was an American geneticist best known for the Hershey–Chase experiment, which demonstrated that DNA is the genetic material.
-
E.
Miller–Urey experiment
The Miller–Urey experiment was a landmark 1952 study that simulated early Earth conditions to demonstrate that organic molecules essential for life could form spontaneously from simple inorganic precursors.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Hershey–Chase experiment Target entity description: The Hershey–Chase experiment was a landmark 1952 study in molecular biology that used bacteriophages to demonstrate that DNA, rather than protein, is the genetic material.
-
A.
Luria–Delbrück experiment
The Luria–Delbrück experiment was a landmark 1943 study in bacterial genetics that demonstrated mutations arise randomly rather than in response to selective pressure, providing key evidence for the genetic basis of evolution.
-
B.
Alfred Hershey
Alfred Hershey was an American bacteriologist and geneticist best known for the Hershey–Chase experiment, which helped establish DNA as the genetic material.
-
C.
Oswald Avery
Oswald Avery was a Canadian-American physician and molecular biologist best known for demonstrating that DNA is the material responsible for heredity.
-
D.
Martha Chase
Martha Chase was an American geneticist best known for the Hershey–Chase experiment, which demonstrated that DNA is the genetic material.
-
E.
Miller–Urey experiment
The Miller–Urey experiment was a landmark 1952 study that simulated early Earth conditions to demonstrate that organic molecules essential for life could form spontaneously from simple inorganic precursors.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
landmark experiment
ⓘ
molecular biology experiment ⓘ scientific experiment ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs | blender experiment NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| associatedWith | Alfred Hershey Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1969 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| author |
Alfred Hershey
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Martha Chase NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| conclusion |
DNA carries hereditary information in phages
ⓘ
genetic continuity is based on DNA replication ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| dataType | radioactivity measurements ⓘ |
| demonstrated |
DNA is the genetic material
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
protein is not the hereditary material in bacteriophage T2 ⓘ |
| evidenceType | experimental evidence ⓘ |
| field |
genetics
ⓘ
molecular biology ⓘ virology ⓘ |
| historicalSignificance | helped establish modern molecular biology ⓘ |
| influenced |
acceptance of DNA as genetic material in all organisms
ⓘ
development of molecular genetics ⓘ |
| keyConcept |
DNA-protein distinction
ⓘ
genetic material ⓘ radioisotope labeling ⓘ viral replication ⓘ |
| method |
differential radioactive labeling of DNA and protein
ⓘ
infection of bacteria with labeled phages ⓘ physical separation of phage coats from infected cells ⓘ |
| organismStudied |
Escherichia coli K-12
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
bacteriophage T2 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| performedAt | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| preceded | Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1969 for work on bacteriophages NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1952 ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Watson–Crick model of DNA NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| showed |
phage DNA enters bacterial cells during infection
ⓘ
phage protein coats largely remain outside bacterial cells ⓘ |
| supportsTheory | DNA as universal genetic material ⓘ |
| testedMaterial |
DNA
ⓘ
protein ⓘ |
| timePeriod | early 1950s ⓘ |
| uses |
Escherichia coli
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
bacteriophage T2 NERFINISHED ⓘ blender ⓘ centrifuge ⓘ radioactive phosphorus-32 ⓘ radioactive sulfur-35 ⓘ |
| year | 1952 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Hershey–Chase experiment Description of subject: The Hershey–Chase experiment was a landmark 1952 study in molecular biology that used bacteriophages to demonstrate that DNA, rather than protein, is the genetic material.
Referenced by (6)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Hershey–Chase experiment paper
this entity surface form:
Hershey–Chase research team