Whose discovery first linked DNA to heredity in bacteria through transformation?
Quick Answer
Frederick Griffith discovered bacterial transformation in 1928, showing that hereditary information could be transferred between cells. This work helped set the stage for identifying DNA as the genetic material.
The Full Story
Frederick Griffith, a British bacteriologist, showed in 1928 that harmless pneumococcal bacteria could be transformed into virulent ones by a heritable “transforming principle.” His experiment used two strains of bacteria and demonstrated that something from dead pathogenic cells could change living cells. This was a major clue that genes were chemical in nature. Later experiments by Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty identified the transforming principle as DNA.
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"The bacterial experiment that pointed to DNA as heredity"