Griffith (scientist)

Frederick Griffith was a British bacteriologist known for his pioneering work in genetics in the 1920s. He conducted experiments with heat-killed bacteria that caused pneumonia and living non-pathogenic bacteria. He discovered that the non-pathogenic bacteria could transform into virulent forms when mixed with heat-killed bacteria, a process he termed "transformation." This finding suggested that some genetic material was transferred between the bacteria, laying the groundwork for the later discovery of DNA as the carrier of genetic information. Griffith's experiments were crucial to understanding heredity and the role of DNA in biology.