By purifying nucleotide DNA from donor bacteria, exposing recipient bacteria to that DNA, and allowing the recipient to divide, Avery showed that the daughter cells carried traits from the donors, thus the supposedly too simple substance DNA was the carrier of traits, not proteins. It was Avery who made the connection between DNA and heritable traits. Like the DNA structure itself, Avery's experiment was one of elegant simplicity. By boiling down the nucleotide to its most basic element, Avery eliminated all other variables that could affect heredity living organism like proteins, and convinced his colleagues and the world that DNA is the carrier of a living being's genetic code. Avery's...

His work (and the work that his research spawned) may one day enable science to eliminate, or at least curtail the spread of genetically transmitted disorders. Even today we reap the benefits of his discovery though genetically modified foods that are more resistant to bacteria. DNA is important to learn about because it provides the fundamental, biological clue to answer such vital questions as: who are we as individuals and as human beings, and how does the world work?
Works Cited

The Biggest Blunder." (2003). Nobel Prizefight. Retrieved 8 Jun 2007 at http://whyfiles.org/188nobel_mri/3.html