biography
| name: |
Hershey, Alfred D(ay)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1908–97)
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| biography:
| Geneticist, born in Owosso, Michigan, USA. He began research on bacteriophages (viruses which infect bacteria) while at Washington University (St Louis) (1934–50), and in 1943 joined the informal ‘phage group’ forum begun by Max Delbrück and Salvador Luria. He then moved to the Carnegie Institution's laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, NY (1950–74). Together with geneticist Martha Chase, he discovered (1952) that bacteriophage DNA alters genetic replication of the host bacterium, thus proving that DNA is the genetic material of the virus. For his work on viral structure and genetic replication, Hershey (with Delbrück and Luria) was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. He chose a quiet retirement to allow younger scientists to continue making advances in viral genetics. |
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