Avery and the Colgate University band in 1900. Oswald Theodore Avery (1877-1955), future US molecular biologist, is third from left seated, holding a cornet. He was a senior at this time. Avery was born in Canada, but was educated in New York. He qualified in medicine in 1904, and entered bacteriology research in 1913. In 1928, he began to study the claim that a non-virulent, unencapsulated bacterium could be transformed into a virulent, encapsulated form in the presence of dead encapsulated bacteria. In 1944, Avery announced that the transformation was caused by deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Colgate University is a liberal arts college in Madison County, New York State, USA.