Answer to Question #42578 in Biology for henry

Question

The genome of virus SV40 is a circular double‐stranded DNA molecule 5 kb long
(i.e., it contains 10,000 bases)

After many generations of growth in medium containing
14N, the medium was replaced with new medium containing
15N. After five generations, what is the ratio of light:heavy DNA strands?

Answer 1

Because the number of DNA moleculesis doubled with each generation, the end result of five generations is 2⁵, or 32 copies of initial DNA molecules. Thus, the ratio of light: heavy DNA strands will be 1 : 32