Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Stanford University Memorial at Clark Walk

BAF845 Black Granite Stanford Memorial lighter

Joshua and Esther Lederberg established their own group and worked on bacterial genetics. Studying with Edward Tatum, they discovered sex, or genetic exchange in bacteria, which won him the Nobel Prize shortly after he arrived at Stanford. The process they developed became a way to transfer genetic information between bacteria.   Len Herzenberg

Esther Lederberg developed a method of replica plating using velveteen attached to a piston ring. The rings are pressed onto bacterial colonies and then stamped onto a series of plates. She advanced many of the early lab procedures and also discovered lambda phage, which became a widely used tool in microbial genetics.   Stanley Falkow


The memorial to Esther Lederberg above points out some of Esther's major accomplishments. However, other major accomplishments have been omitted, including the discovery and naming of the Fertility Factor "F", Esther's extensive research of galactosemia using lambda mutants, Esther's research of maltophilia , and research on specialized transduction with M. Laurance Morse.

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