Whereas old dependency theory was Marxist in presentation, but nationalist in orientation, seeking to combine a theory of class struggle with a nationalist âthird worldistâ ideology, the new dependency theory is institutionalist in its analysis and political orientation.
Griffith concluded that the type II-R had been transformed into the lethal III-S strain by a transforming principle that was somehow part of the dead III-S strain bacteria. Today, we know that the transforming principle Griffith observed was the DNA of the III-s strain bacteria. While the bacteria had been killed, the DNA had survived the heating process and was taken up by the II-R strain bacteria. The III-S strain DNA contains the genes that form the protective polysaccharide capsule.
Unfortunately, Griffith was not able to identify the chemical nature of this  transforming principle  beyond the fact that it was able to survive heat treatment. Looking back on Griffith's results, which were published in 1928, the interpretation seems obvious. Today, we know that DNA molecules can renature after heat treatment and that bacteria can take up foreign DNA from the environment by a process that we still refer to as transformation.