The Cape Hatteras National Seashore extends from the town of Nags Head, NC south to Ocracoke Island. Resource preservation efforts are most obvious in the park's miles of undeveloped coastal habitat, but also include several historic sites including three light stations at Bodie Island, Cape Hatteras, and Ocracoke Island.
On February 1, 1944, physician and medical researcher Oswald Avery together with his colleagues Colin MacLeod and Maclyn McCarty announced that DNA is the hereditary agent in a virus that would transform a virus from a harmless to a pathogenic version. This study was a key work in modern bacteriology.
On October 24, 1632, the Dutch tradesman and scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the inventor of the microscope, was born. He is commonly known as "the Father of Microbiology", and considered to be the first microbiologist.