1969 Nobel Laureate in Medicine
Hershey, Alfred D. (1908-1997)
Biography:
Alfred Day Hershey was born December 4, 1908, in Owosso, Michigan, a
small
town near the state capital, to Robert D. and Alma (Wilber) Hershey. He
graduated from Owosso High School. He attended Michigan State College,
later renamed
Michigan State University, where he received a B.S. in Chemistry in 1930
and a Ph.D.
in Bacteriology in 1934. Hershey then accepted a teaching and research position in the
Department of
Bacteriology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis,
specializing in bacteriology and immunology. His name appears on over
twenty-eight published papers during his tenure at Washington
University. He was named instructor in 1936, assistant
professor in 1938, and associate professor in 1942. He worked with J.J.
Bronfenbrenner. In 1943, Hershey was contacted by the German physicist, Max Delbruck,
who was
working at Vanderbilt University.
Delbruck had read Hershey's papers on phage research, and their
interests
coincided. Bacteriophages are viruses
that infect bacteria. Delbruck invited Hershey to join in his
experiments with the Italian biologist, Salvador Luria. These three men
would
become part of the American Phage Group, sometimes called the Phage
Church. The
group met during the summer at Cold Spring Harbor to conduct research
and
discuss their progress. In 1945, Hershey married Harriet Davidson. They have one son,
Peter. During 1946, Hershey and Delbruck worked together on an experiment
where they
infected a bacteria with two strains of bacteriophages. They found that
the
subsequent generations had infective natures that differed from either
parent.
This was an early example viral genetic recombination. In 1950, Hershey accepted a staff position at Carnegie's Department
of Genetics at
Cold Spring Harbor. In the now famous blender experiment of 1952 (using
a
Waring kitchen blender), with his research assistant, geneticist Martha
Chase, Hershey showed that
the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) from an infecting phage contained
the genetic information to produce more
phage in a bacterial cell. This was early verification of the link
between DNA
and heredity. It is interesting to note that Hershey gave credit to his
research assistant, a character trait that set him apart from many
contemporary
scientists. A more traditional practice was to give credit
"up" the
hierarchical ladder. In 1962, Hershey became Director of the Genetics Research Unit of the
Carnegie Institution at Cold
Spring Harbor, and he spent the remainder of his productive career
there. As described by his colleague, Franklin W Stahl: The logic of Al's analyses was impeccable. He was original, but the
relevance of his work to the interests of the rest of us was always
apparent;
he contributed to and borrowed from the communal storehouse of
understanding,
casual about labeling his own contributions but scrupulous about
attributing
the ones he borrowed. he was industrious (compulsively so--each day he
worked
two shifts). He was a superb editor and critic, devastatingly accurate
but
never too harsh; he deplored that gratuitous proliferation of words
that both
reflects and contributes to sloppiness of thought. And his suggestions
were always
helpful. Hershey spent his free time involved with sailing, reading,
planting trees,
and working with wood. He spent time during the summer sailing in
Michigan. Hershey retired in 1972, but remained active in his lab. He died
May 22,
1997, at his home in Syosset, New York. Honors and Awards