ISOs

ISO's were emergent intelligence. They were entirely non-human beings. I assume it'd would have the same result as finding sentient aliens. The whole 'we're not alone' thing. They said they were completely resistant to virus's and disease. Also, they were a brand new form of life that was created within a computer program. Pretty sure finding a completely new form on life would be a major deal in itself.

The ISOs have digital DNA. That alone is a extraordinary discovery. But their DNA is also a triple helix. Their DNA contains several secrets of how to cure diseases, extend life and much more. Their DNA gave them complete immunity to all diseases and a high resistance to damage, all while being very similar to Human DNA. This would make it relatively easy to use some of their DNA to make a vaccine of sorts to make all humans immune to disease and more resistant to physical harm.

As if this alone wasn't enough, the fact that DNA based lifeforms came to exist in a computer and then were brought into the 'real world' would raise a ridiculous amount of philosophical and religious questions worldwide. Besides, their very existence could radically alter the current scientific and religious paradigm. The mysteries of the Grid would change the way we see art. The fact that rationality can arise from machines would make way for endless philosophical discussions. The impact of their existence would completely change the world.

tl;dr Basically, it was one more evidence that evolution is possible and probable to the point of certainty.

The importance of ISOs was severely understated in the film. Sure, intelligent life coming into being randomly is cool and all (and in a computer system, no less) but what was all that nonsense about them being the keys to all knowledge and religion and all that other stuff? From that I got the idea that ISOs were abstract ideas represented in some kind of tangible 'form' but that wasn't made clear at all. Jeff Bridges was just all like 'ISOs man, keys to the future and the human condition man' and it was all very easily disregarded in the context of the film.

Honestly I see the digitization laser as more profound. It has the capability to deconstruct an entire human body into digital pieces then reassemble those digital pieces back into a human body from nothing. It gives Quorra and Sam their bodies back and it also has the power to bring Clu and his entire army into the real world.That laser is magic technology, forget the ISOs, that's just a quirk of the system. If the system is based on how our world works it stands to reason that it would evolve along similar lines. In fact, if I designed the Grid I would be pretty surprised if I didn't see some kind of emergent digital life come about. It raises philosophical questions too since it essential solves the mind-body problem and the essences of consciousness.