The use of 32P (radioactive) to label DNA and RNA for Southern and northern blotting was a major technical advance. One of the earliest exploitations of the unique phosphorus content of nucleic acids was the Waring-blender experiment (first performed by Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase). This groundbreaking experiment proved that DNA (and not protein) was responsible for genetic information flow from one generation to the next. In this experiment the ability of T2 bacteriophage (a virus that infects bacteria) to inject DNA but not protein into the host bacterium during infection was conclusively shown with 32P labeled (which labeled the nucleic acid) and 35S labeled (which labeled proteins only) phage. When 32P labeled phage, containing radiolabeled DNA, were allowed to attach briefly to the host bacteria (then removed with a Waring blender), a 32P-labeled bacterial pellet was the result obtained after centrifugation of the sample. When 35S-labeled phage were used, the bacterial pellet obtained after centrifugation was unlabeled. From this experiment it was finally established that the nucleic acid and not the protein coat was transferred to the host during viral infection. This DNA could then hijack the host’s transcription and translation machinery to direct the synthesis of many copies of the virus, eventually leading to host cell.