At the request of Stanford University's Department of Medical Microbiology and
Genetics, Esther Lederberg recounted the history of fertility factor F in 1993.
A number of different draft versions have been found, which differ slightly
from each other. The differences center around Dr. Lederberg's assumptions
about what the audience might already know about the history of the field.
Thus, all the versions effectively say the same thing.
All the versions are presented to the reader; thus, the reader can decide
what the historical issues were.
As a historical note, it is of some importance to know the time sequence
of the relevant published papers, which establishes the priority of
Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg's "Fertility factor" ('F')1
over William Hayes' "Sex factor" ('F' ?)2.
_____________________________
1
"Sex compatibility in E. coli,
, Lederberg, J., L. L. Cavalli, and E. M. Lederberg,
1952 Genetics, 37:720-730
2
"Observations on a transmissible agent determining sexual
differentiation in Bacterium coli", Hayes, W.,
1953,
J. Gen. Microbiol., 8:72-88
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