See Also: Lederberg, Joshua(encyclopedia)
Joshua(dictionary)
Joshua(dictionary)
Joshua(encyclopedia)
Slocum, Joshua(encyclopedia)
Reynolds, Sir Joshua(encyclopedia)
Reynolds, Sir Joshua(dictionary)
Joshua (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
Sondheim, Stephen (Joshua)(encyclopedia)
Heschel, Abraham Joshua(encyclopedia)

Lederberg, Joshua (sh)




born May 23, 1925, Montclair, N.J., U.S.

U.S. geneticist.

He earned his Ph.D. at Yale University. With his student Norton Zinder, Lederberg discovered that certain viruses were capable of carrying a bacterial gene from one bacterium to another, a discovery that made bacteria as important a tool of genetic research as Drosophila and the bread mold Neurospora. He also developed breeding techniques for bacterial genetics. In 1958 he shared the Nobel Prize with George Wells Beadle and Edward L. Tatum for discovery of the mechanisms of genetic recombination in bacteria.