1943: Luria and Delbrück initiate the field of
bacterial genetics when they demonstrate
that bacteria undergo mutation.
1946: Delbrück, Bailey, and Hershey find genetic
recombination in phages.
1953: Delbrück and Visconti hypothesize an
explanation of genetic recombination in phages.
1969: Delbrück, Luria, and Hershey awarded a
Nobel Prize for work with viral genetics.
Esther Lederberg correction: "Phage and the Origins of
Molecular Biology", Cairns, J., Stent, G. S., Watson,
J. D. (Editors), p. 148
Esther points out that although Max Delbrück
advised J. Watson to study X-ray diffraction of DNA
at the Cavendish Laboratory, in fact, J. Watson went
to Kalchar, Copenhagen.