1. The Mission
You just got hired as a scientist in a genetics laboratory. As your first assignment approaches, you want to brush up on your history of DNA. You decide to research the following:
The scientists involved in the discovery of DNA.
The discoveries and research that led to the realization that DNA was the genetic material.
The scientists who were involved in discovering the structure of DNA.

2. DOSSIER For each scientist/s, find the following information:
The date of their discovery/research.
Their discovery or contribution to DNA history.
How they come to this discovery
Example: method, DNA technology, process, or model.
Remember, you do not need to visit each website for each scientist. Just find the information you need for each scientist.

3. Friedrich Miescher Websites
DNA Timeline (this may be helpful for all scientists)
Points to Remember
Where did Miescher acquire the material he studied?
What do you think he was actually extracting?

4. Frederick Griffith Websites: DNA Transformation
Slideshow of Griffith's Research (Use Slides 7-12)
Animation of Griffith’s experiment
Points to Remember:
What was the name of Griffith’s discovery?
What did his discovery show?

5. Oswald Avery Websites: Avery and the transforming principle
Avery on the Genetics Timeline
Points to Remember:
What was Avery trying to find out?
What did Avery finally realize about transformation?

6. Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase
Websites:
Diagram of Hershey-Chase experiment
Description of Experiment
Interactive Simulation of Experiment
Another good diagram with description
Points to Remember:
What did Hershey and Chase use in their experiment to transfer genetic information?
What two parts of the virus were being tested in their experiment?
What did Hershey and Chase conclude?

7. Erwin Chargaff Websites: Chargaff's Rules
Description of Chargaff's Rules
Points to Remember:
What are Chargaff’s rules?
What did the similarities in base pairing between different organisms say about DNA?.

8. Linus Pauling Websites Pauling's Triple Helix Structure
Points to Remember
Describe the structure of DNA that Pauling proposed.
What was wrong with his model?

9. Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins
Websites:
Rosalind's Research
More Rosalind Information
Information on Maurice Wilkins and his work with DNA
Points to Remember
What technique did Rosalind and Maurice use in their research?
What did Rosalind and Maurice’s work help show about DNA?

10. Francis Crick and James Watson
Websites
People and Discoveries: Watson and Crick
DNA Structure Contributors
A look back at DNA 50 years later
Points to Remember:
What was the name given to Watson & Crick’s structure of DNA?
What did their model of DNA help explain about DNA?

11. Matthew Meselson and Franklin Stahl
Websites
Meselson and Stahl
Experiment Animation
Overview
Points to Remember
What methods were used in their experiments?
What did the results of their experiment prove?

12. Mission Accomplished!
You’re done! Once you have completed your dossiers, turn them in.