Discovery
The lac repressor was first isolated by Walter Gilbert and Benno Müller-Hill in 1966. They were able to show, in vitro, that the protein bound to DNA containing the lac operon, and released the DNA when IPTG was added. (IPTG is an allolactose analog.) They were also able to isolate the portion of DNA bound by the protein by using the enzyme deoxyribonuclease, which breaks down DNA. After treatment of the repressor-DNA complex, some DNA remained, suggesting that it had been masked by the repressor. This was later confirmed.
These experiments confirmed the mechanism of the lac operon, earlier proposed by Jacques Monod and Francois Jacob.
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