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