Editing Maclyn McCarty (section)

==Early Rockefeller years==
MacLeod, over a number of years of research, had resolved several thorny technical issues, so that by the time McCarty arrived at the Rockefeller University, Avery's team had paved the way for McCarty. Their progress over the next three years is described in McCarty's memoir ''The Transforming Principle'', written in the early 1980s.<ref>McCarty M (1985) The transforming principle: Discovering that genes are made of DNA. New York: W. W. Norton. 252 p. {{ISBN|0-393-30450-7}}.</ref>

McCarty's arrival at Rockefeller University was also marked by another milestone, namely, the development of a  reagent assay to positively correlate DNA with biological activity. In 1944 they published in the [[Journal of Experimental Medicine]] about their work.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Avery |first1=Oswald T. |last2=MacLeod |first2=Colin M. |last3=McCarty |first3=Maclyn
|title=Studies on the Chemical Nature of the Substance Inducing Transformation of Pneumococcal Types - Induction of Transformation by a Desoxyribonucleic Acid Fraction Isolated from Pneumococcus Type III
|journal=Journal of Experimental Medicine
|date=February 1, 1944 |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=137–158 |pmid=19871359 |pmc=2135445
|doi=10.1084/jem.79.2.137}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
|last1=McCarty |first1=M |last2=Avery |first2=OT |year=1946
|title=Studies on the chemical nature of the substance inducing transformation of pneumococcal types. 2. Effect of desoxyribonuclease on the biological activity of the transforming substance | journal = J Exp Med | volume = 83 | issue = 2| pages = 89–96 | doi=10.1084/jem.83.2.89| pmid = 19871520 | pmc=2135575}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = McCarty | first1 = M | last2 = Avery | first2 = OT | year = 1946 | title = Studies on the chemical nature of the substance inducing transformation of pneumococcal types. 3. An improved method for the isolation of the transforming substance and its application to Pneumococcus types II, III, and VI | journal = Journal of Experimental Medicine | volume = 83 | issue = 2| pages = 97–104 | doi=10.1084/jem.83.2.97| pmid = 19871521 | pmc=2135577}}</ref>

Acceptance of the concept that "genes are DNA" was a slow process.<ref>Amsterdamska O (1993) From pneumonia to DNA: The research career of Oswald T. Avery. Hist Stud Phys Biol Sci 24:1–40.</ref><ref>Olby R (1974) The path to the double helix. London: Macmillan. 510 p.</ref> Skepticism and being ignored, at least in the New York research institutions abounded. There were challenges associated with research, which made it especially difficult to attract other investigators to pursue it. Few people had the necessary expertise. One needed to use mice for corroboration. However, by 1953, influenced by the enormous impact of [[Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid|Watson and Crick's bihelical structure of DNA]], the majority of researchers had fully accepted the 1944 paper.