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Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty (1944)

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Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty identified DNA in 1944 as Griffith's transforming principle by destroying each candidate molecule in turn.

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Destroying the sample's proteins and RNA left transformation intact; destroying its DNA with a DNA-digesting enzyme stopped transformation completely.

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This 1944 result faced skepticism for years — Hershey and Chase's independent confirmation is what settled the question.