In his transformation experiments, what phenomenon did Griffith observe?
A) Mixing a heat-killed pathogenic strain of bacteria with a living nonpathogenic strain can convert some of the living cells into the pathogenic form.
B) Mixing a heat-killed nonpathogenic strain of bacteria with a living pathogenic strain makes the pathogenic strain nonpathogenic.
C) Infecting mice with nonpathogenic strains of bacteria makes them resistant to pathogenic strains.
D) Mice infected with a pathogenic strain of bacteria can spread the infection to other mice.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Griffith observed that mixing a heat-killed pathogenic strain of bacteria (which should not be capable of causing disease) with a living nonpathogenic strain resulted in some of the living cells being transformed into the pathogenic form. This suggested that some genetic material from the dead pathogenic bacteria had been taken up and incorporated into the genetic material of the living nonpathogenic bacteria, allowing them to become pathogenic. This was the first evidence of genetic transformation.

In His Transformation Experiments, What Phenomenon Did Griffith Observe