Frederick griffith mice experiment

Experiment demonstrating transfer of genetic information

Griffith's experiment,^[1] performed by Frederick Griffith and reported in 1928,^[2] was the first experiment suggesting that bacteria are capable of transferring genetic information through a process known as transformation.^[3][4] Griffith's findings were followed by research in the late 1930s and early 40s that isolated DNA as the material that communicated this genetic information.

Pneumonia was a serious cause of death in the wake of the post-WWI Spanish influenza pandemic, and Griffith was studying the possibility of creating a vaccine. Griffith used two strains of pneumococcus (Diplococcus pneumoniae) bacteria which infect mice – a type III-S (smooth) which was virulent, and a type II-R (rough) strain which was nonvirulent.

The III-S strain synthesized a polysaccharide capsule that protected itself from the host's immune system, resulting in the deat