Salvador Luria

Salvador Edward Luria (August 13, 1912 – February 6, 1991) was a naturalized American microbiologist whose pioneering work on phage helped open up molecular biology.

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Luria was born in Torino, Italy, but fled to France in 1936 and then to the United States in 1940 as his leftist, pacifist views were incongruent with the fascist regime of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. In the US, his work focussed on the genetics of bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria. One of his early graduate students was James D. Watson, who went on to discover the structure of DNA with Francis Crick.

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His famous experiment with Max Delbr?ck in 1943 demonstrated statistically that inheritance in bacteria must follow Darwinian rather than Larmarckian principles and that mutant bacteria occurring randomly can still bestow viral resistance without the virus being present. The idea that natural selection affects bacteria has profound consequences, for example, it explains how bacteria develop antibiotic resistance.

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In January 1947, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

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Along with Max Delbr?ck and Alfred Hershey, Luria was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine. He died in Lexington, Massachusetts.

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See also:

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Luria-Delbruck experiment

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August 13: August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining....

1912: 1912 was a leap year starting on Monday....

February 6: February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 328 days remaining, 329 in leap years....

Salvador Luria related Images and Photos (experimental)

Salvador Dali	Salvador Dali Atmosphere	Salvador Dali (1904-1989)	Salvador Dali: Les Montres Molles Poster
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Salvador Dali: Apparition d'un Compotier Poster	Salvador Dali: La Metamorphose de Narcisse Poster	Salvador Dali: Cygnes reflechis en Elephants Poster	Detail of Llort Painting Fernando Llort Gallery San Salvador El Salvador