Esther Lederberg

Esther Lederberg
Stanford University laboratory
Born	Esther Miriam Zimmer (1922-12-18)December 18, 1922 Bronx, New York
Died	November 11, 2006(2006-11-11) (aged 83)
Fields	Microbiology Microbial Genetics
Institutions	Stanford University University of Wisconsin
Alma mater	Hunter College, Stanford University, University of Wisconsin
Doctoral advisor	R. Hans Brink
Known for	Lambda phage, specialized transduction, replica plating, fertility factor F, Plasmid Reference Center

Esther Miriam Zimmer Lederberg (December 18, 1922 – November 11, 2006) was an American microbiologist and a pioneer of bacterial genetics. Notable contributions include the discovery of the bacterial virus λ, the transfer of genes between bacteria by specialized transduction, the development of replica plating, and the discovery of the bacterial fertility factor F (F plasmid).

Lederberg also founded and directed the now defunct Plasmid Reference Center at Stanford University, where she maintained, named, and distributed plasmids of many types, including those coding for antibiotic resistance, heavy metal resistance, virulence, conjugation, colicins, transposons, and other unknown factors.

Esther Miriam Zimmer was the first of two children born in the Bronx, New York, to David Zimmer and Pauline Geller Zimmer. Her brother, Benjamin Zimmer, followed in 1923. A child of the Great Depression, her lunch was often a piece of bread topped by the juice of a squeezed tomato.

Zimmer thrived academically. She attended Evander Childs High School in the Bronx, receiving honors for French and graduating at the age of 16. In college, Zimmer initially wanted to study French or literature, but she switched her field of study to biochemistry against the recommendation of her teachers, who felt women struggled to get a career in the sciences. She worked as a research assistant at the New York Botanical Garden, engaging in research on Neurospora crassa with the plant pathologist Bernard Ogilvie Dodge. She received a bachelor's degree in genetics at New York City’s Hunter College, graduating cum laude in 1942, at the age of 20.