Meselson recounts how the 1958 Meselson-Stahl experiment proved semiconservative DNA replication
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In an iBiology interview, Matthew Meselson recounts the 1958 experiment with Franklin Stahl that settled how DNA replicates. Watson and Crick's 1953 double helix structure had left the copying mechanism open, with three competing hypotheses: conservative, dispersive and semiconservative replication. Meselson and Stahl used N15 isotope labeling and density gradient centrifugation in bacteria, tracking heavy, light and hybrid DNA bands across generations. Only the semiconservative model fit the observed banding pattern, resolving the question. The interview offers a first-hand account of one of molecular biology's decisive experiments.
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- youtube.comMeselson recounts how the 1958 Meselson-Stahl experiment proved semiconservative DNA replication
Matthew Meselson tells the story, in an iBiology interview, of the 1958 experiment with Franklin Stahl that settled how DNA replicates. After Watson and Crick's 1953 double helix left the mechanism open, three hypotheses competed: conservative, dispersive and semiconservative. Using N15 isotope labeling and density gradient centrifugation in bacteria, the pair tracked heavy, light and hybrid DNA bands across generations, and only the semiconservative model fit.
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