Biography of alfred day hershey

American bacteriologist and geneticist

Alfred Day Hershey (December 4, 1908 – May 22, 1997) was an American Nobel Prize–winning bacteriologist and geneticist.

Early years

Hershey was born in Owosso, Michigan to Robert Day and Alma Wilbur Hershey. He earned a B.S. in chemistry in 1930, and Ph.D. in bacteriology in 1934 from Michigan State University.

Biography of alfred day hershey

Shortly after, Hershey accepted a faculty position at Washington University in St. Louis,^[1][2] serving as an instructor of bacteriology and immunology from 1934 to 1950.

Bacteriophage research

At Washington University, Hershey worked closely with department head Jacques Bronfenbrenner to investigate bacteriophages, or phages—viruses that infect and replicate inside bacteria.^[3] Hershey's work on the factors impacting the virus' ability to infect its targets brought him to the attention of fellow phage researchers Max Delbrück and Salvador Luria.

The Phage Group

In 1943,