Max Delbrück

Max Delbrück (September 4, 1906 - March 9, 1981) was a German biologist.

Related Topics:
September 4 - 1906 - March 9 - 1981 - German - Biologist

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He was born in Berlin, Germany. His father was Hans Delbrück, a professor of history at the University of Berlin, and his mother was the granddaughter of Justus von Liebig.

Related Topics:
Berlin - Hans Delbrück - History - University of Berlin - Justus von Liebig

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Delbrück studied astrophysics, shifting towards theoretical physics, at the University of Göttingen. After receiving his Ph.D., he traveled through England, Denmark, and Switzerland. He met Wolfgang Pauli and Niels Bohr, who got him interested in biology. Delbrück went back to Berlin in 1932 as an assistant to Lise Meitner.

Related Topics:
Astrophysics - Theoretical physics - University of Göttingen - England - Denmark - Switzerland - Wolfgang Pauli - Niels Bohr - Biology - Lise Meitner

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In 1937, he moved to the United States, taking up research at Caltech on genetics of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Delbrück stayed in the US during World War II, teaching physics at the Vanderbilt University in Nashville. His brother Justus Delbrück, a lawyer, his sister Emmi Bonhoeffer and his brother-in-law Klaus Bonhoeffer (Brother of Dietrich Bonhoeffer) were in the German Resistance against the Nazi Regime. Klaus and Dietrich Bonhoeffer were executed in the last days of Hitler's Germany.

Related Topics:
United States - Caltech - Genetics - Drosophila melanogaster - World War II - Vanderbilt University - Nashville - Justus Delbrück - Emmi Bonhoeffer - Klaus Bonhoeffer - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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In 1939, he co-authored a paper called The Growth of Bacteriophage with E.L. Ellis in which they demonstrated that viruses reproduce in "one step", rather than exponentially as cellular organisms do.

Related Topics:
Bacteriophage - E.L. Ellis - Virus - One step - Cellular

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In 1941, he married Mary Bruce, with whom he had four children.

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In 1942, he and Salvador Luria demonstrated that bacterial resistance to virus infection is caused by random mutation and not adaptive change. For that, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1969, sharing it with Alfred Hershey.

Related Topics:
Salvador Luria - Bacterial - Virus - Mutation - Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - 1969 - Alfred Hershey

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From the 1950s on, Delbrück worked on physiology rather than genetics. He also set up the institute for molecular genetics at the University of Cologne.

Related Topics:
1950s - Physiology - Molecular genetics - University of Cologne

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Delbruck was one of the most influential people in the movement of physical scientists into biology during the 20th century. Delbruck's thinking about the physical basis of life stimulated Erwin Schrödinger to write the highly influential book, What Is Life?{{ref|MaxtoErwin}}. Schrödinger's book was an important influence on Francis Crick, James D. Watson and Maurice Wilkins who won a Nobel prize for the discovery of the DNA double helix. Delbruck's efforts to promote the "Phage Group" (exploring genetics by way of the viruses that infect bacteria) was important in the early development of molecular biology.

Related Topics:
Erwin Schrödinger - Francis Crick - James D. Watson - Maurice Wilkins - Molecular biology

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