Question

What did scientist think about inherited traits before the work of frederick griffith

Answer 1

They knew traits were inherited, but they did not know why.

Answer 2

Before Frederick Griffith’s “transforming principle” experiment using bacteria, scientists in the early 1900s believed proteins carried the genetic material. They had not yet identified that DNA was responsible for it. Oswald Avery’s and Hershey and Chase’s experiments following Griffith’s, helped determine DNA as the genetic material.