Erwin+Chargaff

 Erwin Chargaff

 In 1930, he went to the University of Berlin to assist in the public health department. In 1935, he returned to the USA and became an assistant biochemistry professor at Columbia University. 17 years later he became a full professor and the chairman of his department for four years. Then, in 1974, he became an emeritus professor of biochemistry.
 * __ Nationality: __** Austrian-American
 * __ Date of Birth: __** August 11, 1905
 * __ Education: __** Chargaff went to the University of Vienna. He received a doctoral degree in 1928 in chemistry. Later, he traveled to the USA as part of the Milton Campbell research program. He stayed at Yale University as a research fellow. In 1930, he went to the University of Berlin to assist in the public health department. In 1935, he returned to the USA and became a biochemistry professor at Columbia University.
 * __ Occupation: __** Scientist/ Researcher and Professor at Columbia
 * __ DNA Discovery: __** He discovered that DNA is the main element in the gene. He also came up with Chargaff’s rules. These include the base-pair rule.
 * __ Date of Death: __** June 20, 2002

 DNA DISCOVERY Chargaff, with the help of his colleagues, was able to make a break through concerning the structure of DNA. It was already known that the DNA nitrogen bases included thymine, guanine, adenine, and cytosine. Also, it had been discovered that adenine and guanine have two structural rings making them purines. Thymine and cytosine had only one structural ring making them pyrimidines. Through Chargaff’s research, he discovered that in DNA there was the same number of adenines and thymines and there was also the same number of guanines aand cytosines. This lead him to create his “Chargaff’s Rule .” It stated that in a DNA sequence there must be the same amount of adenines and thymines as well as the same amount of cytosines with guanines. So thymines bond with adenines and guanines bond with cytosines. This makes each strand in a helix of DNA complementary.



Works Cited “Erwin Chargaff.”__Answers.com__. 9 April 2008. . “Erwin Chargaff.” __Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia__, 9 April 2008. [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Chargaff. Solomon, Eldra P., Linda R. Berg, and Diana W. Martin. “DNA: The Carrier of Genetic Information.” __Biology: Sixth Edition__. United States: Thomas Learning, 2002.