What was Frederick griffith looking for in his experiments?

Frederick Griffith was investigating the phenomenon of bacterial transformation in his experiments with two strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae in 1928. He aimed to understand how non-virulent bacteria could acquire virulence when mixed with heat-killed virulent bacteria. His work ultimately led to the discovery of the "transforming principle," which laid the groundwork for later discoveries about DNA as the genetic material.