IF Avery, Macleod, and McCarty had found that samples of heat-killed bacteria treated with RNase and DNase transformed bacteria, but samples treated with protease did not, what conclusion would they have made

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Explanation:

The conclusion that Avery, Macleod, and McCarty would have made assuming that samples of heat-killed bacteria treated with RNase and DNase transformed bacteria, but samples treated with protease did not would be that protein is responsible for the transformation of the non-virulent bacterium strain to a virulent one.

According to the findings of the 3 researchers, heat-killed virulent strain of Streptococcus pneumoniae transformed non-virulent strain of the same species into being virulent. They were able to discover that the molecule responsible for this transformation was DNA.

If the heat-killed virulent strain had been treated with RNase and DNase, this would have degraded RNA and DNA in the heat-killed cells respectively, leaving only protein as the carrier of the virulence factor. Confirmation of the transforming attribute of the protein can be further be confirmed by treating the heat-killed mixture with protease, a protein degrading enzyme.