DNA sequencing - (Aug/22/2013 )

hello all,

this is a random question but what did scientist do before DNA sequencing was discovered? were there any other alternatives?

Thanks a bunch :)

Restriction digest mapping springs to mind.

I'd recommend that you read some of the experiments from that time. Heroic efforts were needed to determine what was happening, and it is (to me) inspiring to read about them. Khorana's determination of the genetic code is perhaps one such inspiring set of experiments.