Esther Lederberg

          Esther was born in New York City in the Bronx. Her family was poor, so she took it upon herself to pay for her own education. She graduated high school at 16 years old. Her intellect helped her get scholarships for college. At first, Esther wanted to study French. However, she was intrigued with biochemistry. She went on to get her Master’s in genetics. Esther worked as a teaching assistant to help pay for graduate school, but at times she was forced to eat frog legs from leftover dissections. After completing graduate school, she married Joshua Lederberg, a fellow scientist.

            Esther made some incredible contributions to microbiology and molecular biology. Esther was working on her PhD at the University of Wisconsin when she made an amazing discovery. She was studying a strain of E. coli that contained a mutated gene. She noticed something strange about the colonies. Some of the colonies looked as though they were nibbled on. Esther had discovered lambda phage. This bacteriophage would insert its genetic material into its host cell. The phage’s genes would chill out in the host’s DNA, and be continuously replicated along with the host’s DNA. Soon, there would be a colony of host cells with phage genes. The phage is activated when the host cell undergoes environmental stress. This triggers the phage to burst out of the host cell, thereby killing the host. Esther’s discovery of lambda phage led to a better understanding of how bacterial genes are passed on and how viruses work. Lambda phase is also used for inserting genetic markers into a desired cell, antibiotic resistance, and cloning.

            Esther also discovered the F plasmid, which is used by the lambda phage to transfer genetic material to another cell. She also created a new method called replica plating. Part of her main research was mutations in bacterial colonies. She shorted the traditional method with a velvet stamp. Esther would press on a bacterial colony with the stamp, and then press the stamp on different plates. The plates would be introduced to different environmental conditions. This helped Esther see bacterial mutations firsthand. Her method proved that bacteria have the ability to mutate spontaneously.

 Despite Esther’s contributions, it was her husband who was primarily credited. After her replication plate method was developed, Joshua shared a Nobel Peace Prize with George W. Beadle and Edward Tatum in 1958. In Joshua’s acceptance, he never once credited her even though she was the main contributor to the award. Joshua also got the best jobs. As the wife, Esther was given jobs which she was grossly overqualified for. Sometimes she wasn’t even paid. When they co-wrote articles, Joshua’s name would always be ahead of Esther’s. Esther and Joshua eventually divorced in 1966. Esther continued her remining scientific career at Stanford, where she studied plasmids. After she retired, she still continued researching. She also created a recorder orchestra. Her love of music led her to her new husband, Matthew Simon, who also loved music. Esther died in 2006 from pneumonia. I was simultaneously inspired and saddened with how things worked out for her. She deserved so much more recognition for her work, and yet the men in her life would not give her the proper credit. Esther worked so hard doing what she loved. The least we can do is recognize and remember her.

 

Sources

“Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World,” written and illustrated by Rachel Ignotofsky.

Esther Lederberg: http://schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2014/07/esther-lederberg-pioneer-of-bacterial-genetics.html

http://www.whatisbiotechnology.org/people/Lederberg_Esther

Jane Cooke Wright

           In the 1940s, cancer was still only barely understood. Scientists were trying everything they could to learn more about cancer and how to treat it. Jane Cooke Wright ended up playing a key role in cancer research. She was born in New York City in 1919. Jane was born into a family of scholars. Her grandfather was the first African-American to graduate from Yale. Her father was the first African-American to graduate from Harvard, and he founded the Harlem Hospital’s Cancer Research Foundation. Jane graduated from New York medical college in 1945. At first, she mainly worked as a doctor for public schools. However, she decided to quit her job and work with her father at his research center. After her father’s death, she became the head of the research center at the age of 33.

            Cancer research was still in its infant years. Treatment was unpleasant. Whole organs sometimes had to be removed. Apparently doctors even tried injecting mustard gas into cancer patients. Jane wanted to improve treatment methods. She spent her research on trying to find an effective way to combat tumors. Rather than testing her methods on individual mice, she would test her drugs on cancer tissue samples. Jane’s accomplishments include refining techniques that involved chemotherapy and methotrexate. She used chemotherapy to specifically attack tumors in area that were hard to reach. Methotrexate, at the time, was being studied as a treatment for leukemia. However, Jane used methotrexate to attack the breast cancer directly and saw that the tumors went into remission. Methotrexate is now widely used to treat cancer, as well as some autoimmune diseases.

 

            Jane’s accomplishments in oncology led her to become one of the nation’s top doctor in cancer research. She wrote over one hundred papers on cancer treatment research within forty years. In 1964, she was appointed to the President’s Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke by Lyndon B. Johnson. She was the head of many cancer research groups in Africa, China, and Europe. Jane became the highest-ranking African-American woman in medicine by 1967. She helped found the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and she became the president of the New York Cancer Society in 1971. Jane continued her research and her teaching until she retired in 1987.

Jane’s hard work helped scientists everywhere better understand how to treat cancer. It is because of her work that cancer research is where it is today. Jane is a fantastic example of a woman scientist who is underappreciated. I wanted to share Jane, not only for the incredible work she did, but also to show how women of color in science are often overlooked. Thankfully, more and more women of color in science fields are being talked about. Jane was a dedicated doctor. She paved the way for many women in medicine, and she deserves to be recognized for her work.

 

Sources

“Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World,” written and illustrated by Rachel Ignotofsky

Dr. Jane C. Wright: https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_336.html

http://www.aacr.org/Research/Awards/Pages/jane-cooke-wright.aspx#.WCX9UDHrvIU

Rita Levi-Montalcini

          Who’s ready to learn about an awesome lady who didn’t let anything get in her way during her scientific career? Meet Rita Levi-Montalcini, an Italian Jewish woman who took the world by storm. She was born April 22, 1909. Her father was a mathematician and her mother was a painter. Despite her family’s love for culture and intellect, Rita’s father believed that women with careers wouldn’t make suitable wives. Rita soon realized she could never fit into the “proper lady” role her father imagined for her. After some persuasion, she eventually persuaded her father to let her become a doctor. She graduated from the University of Turin with a medical degree in 1936.

            Just two years after Rita graduated, Benito Mussolini’s Manifesto of Race forbade Jews from practicing medicine. She was forced to maintain a low profile during World War II. However, she didn’t let this war get in the way of her research. She made her own research lab in her home and studied the nerve growth in chicken embryos. After the war, Rita re-entered the scientific community. She was invited to work at Washington University in Saint Louis for one year, but she ended up staying for thirty years as a professor and researcher. While Rita was studying tissue growth, she discovered a protein called nerve growth factor (NGF). NGF helps maintain healthy nerve growth. It also plays roles in the immune system, ovulation, pancreatic cells, and even romantic love. The discovery of NGF helped scientists better understand cell growth, cancer cells, and diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

            Rita was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in physiology or medicine 1986, along with her research partner Stanley Cohen. In 2001, she became an Italian senator for life. She continued her research until she died at 103. Rita experienced many hurdles throughout her life, but she never once gave up on her love for medicine. Her hard work eventually paid off, and she ended up contributing a great discovery about the nervous system. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Rita did so much with her life. She spent almost every minute trying to learn how to better humanity. Rita is a woman worth looking up to, and she deserves to be recognized for her achievements.

 

Sources

“Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World,” written and illustrated by Rachel Ignotofsky.

Rita Levi-Montalcini: http://www.famousscientists.org/rita-levi-montalcini/

http://beckerexhibits.wustl.edu/mig/bios/levi-montalcini.html