{"id":"joshua-lederberg","type":"person","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/joshua-lederberg","language":"en","name":"Joshua Lederberg","name_en":"Joshua Lederberg","name_ne":null,"description":"American molecular biologist (1925–2008)","headline":"American molecular biologist (1925–2008)","also_known_as":[],"summary":"Joshua Lederberg  (May 23, 1925 – February 2, 2008) was an American molecular biologist known for his work in microbial genetics, artificial intelligence, and the United States space program. He was 33 years old when he won the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering that bacteria can mate and exchange genes (bacterial conjugation); work that was conducted alongside his wife Esther, who was uncredited for her contributions. He shared the prize with Edward Tatum and George Beadle, who won for their work with genetics.","summary_more":["In addition to his contributions to biology, Lederberg did extensive research in artificial intelligence. This included work in the NASA experimental programs seeking life on Mars and the chemistry expert system Dendral."],"facts":[{"key":"born","label":"Born","values":[{"text":"23 May 1925","date":"1925-05-23"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q218823#P569"}},{"key":"birthplace","label":"Place of birth","values":[{"text":"Montclair","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q678437"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q218823#P19"}},{"key":"died","label":"Died","values":[{"text":"2 February 2008","date":"2008-02-02"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q218823#P570"}},{"key":"deathplace","label":"Place of death","values":[{"text":"New York City","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q218823#P20"}},{"key":"citizenship","label":"Citizenship","values":[{"text":"United States","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q218823#P27"}},{"key":"occupation","label":"Occupation","values":[{"text":"geneticist","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3126128"},{"text":"molecular biologist","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15839206"},{"text":"university teacher","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1622272"},{"text":"computer scientist","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q82594"},{"text":"artificial intelligence researcher","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15976092"},{"text":"physician","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q39631"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q218823#P106"}},{"key":"education","label":"Education","values":[{"text":"Columbia University","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q49088"},{"text":"Yale University","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q49112","end":"1948"},{"text":"Stuyvesant High School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3098911"},{"text":"University of Wisconsin–Madison","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q838330"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q218823#P69"}},{"key":"spouse","label":"Spouse","values":[{"text":"Esther Lederberg","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q586884"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q218823#P26"}},{"key":"awards","label":"Awards","values":[{"text":"Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80061","date":"1958"},{"text":"Presidential Medal of Freedom","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17144","date":"2006"},{"text":"William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8017107","date":"1982"},{"text":"National Medal of Science","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q737051","date":"1989"},{"text":"Maxwell Finland Award","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6796097","date":"1997"},{"text":"ACM-AAAI Allen Newell Award","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30514449","date":"1995"},{"text":"ACM Fellow","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18748039","date":"1994"},{"text":"Foreign Member of the Royal Society","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14906020","date":"1979-04-26"},{"text":"Wilbur Cross Medal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8000166","date":"1969"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q218823#P166"}}],"office":null,"sections":[],"cited":[],"cited_from":null,"videos":[],"last_reviewed":null,"organizations":[],"same_as":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Lederberg","https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q218823"],"faq":[{"q":"When was Joshua Lederberg born?","a":"Joshua Lederberg was born on 23 May 1925 in Montclair."},{"q":"Where did Joshua Lederberg study?","a":"Joshua Lederberg was educated at Columbia University, Yale University, Stuyvesant High School, University of Wisconsin–Madison."}],"related":[{"name":"Jan Koum","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/jan-koum"},{"name":"Joe Gebbia","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/joe-gebbia"},{"name":"Luke Nosek","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/luke-nosek"},{"name":"Miriam Adelson","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/miriam-adelson"},{"name":"Adam Riess","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/adam-riess"},{"name":"Alan J. Heeger","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/alan-j-heeger"},{"name":"Alfred G. Gilman","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/alfred-g-gilman"},{"name":"Alfred Hershey","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/alfred-hershey"},{"name":"Allan MacLeod Cormack","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/allan-macleod-cormack"},{"name":"Andrea M. Ghez","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/andrea-m-ghez"},{"name":"Andrew Fire","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/andrew-fire"},{"name":"Andrew Schally","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/andrew-schally"}],"places_in":[],"nearby":[],"image":{"url":"https://diginpl.com/kb-img/joshua-lederberg-569a2a9245.jpg","width":500,"height":606,"license":"Public domain","credit":null,"page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joshua_Lederberg_crop.jpg"},"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia (English): Joshua Lederberg","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Lederberg","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"},{"label":"Wikidata item Q218823","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q218823","license":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},{"label":"Image: Joshua Lederberg crop.jpg (Public domain)","url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joshua_Lederberg_crop.jpg","license":null}],"license":{"text":"CC BY-SA 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","facts":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},"attribution":"Text from the Wikipedia article Joshua Lederberg, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Joshua Lederberg crop.jpg, Public domain.","cite":"\"Joshua Lederberg\". DigiNepal. Last updated 31 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/joshua-lederberg. Retrieved 6 November 2026.","date_modified":"2026-10-31T12:00:53Z","facts_checked":"2026-11-06","alternates":{"html":"https://diginpl.com/people/joshua-lederberg","en":"https://diginpl.com/people/joshua-lederberg","ne":"https://diginpl.com/people/joshua-lederberg?lang=ne"}}