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1 The Life and Legacies of Joshua Lederberg
Pages 76-94

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From page 76...
... Morse, of Columbia University, recalls meeting Lederberg, who was then president of Rockefeller University, when Morse was "the most junior of junior faculty members." Thus began a friendship, rooted in a shared interest in emerging infectious diseases, that lasted for more than 20 years -- a collaboration that embraced the ideas upon which the Forum on Microbial Threats was founded. Former Forum chair Adel Mahmoud, of Princeton University, notes in the chapter's final essay that "this Forum is the brainchild of Joshua as he was exploring how to respond to the multifaceted challenges of microbes." After reviewing and celebrating the breadth of his accomplishments, Mahmoud concludes that Lederberg "needs no monument to ensure that his life and work are long remembered." Rather, his ideas and example will continue to be "an inspiration and a reminder that our work can truly change the world just as the life and career of Joshua Lederberg certainly did." 
From page 77...
... In 1989, our nation's highest honor in science and technology, the National Medal of Science, was awarded to him with a concise and illuminating citation: For [Joshua Lederberg's] work in bacterial genetics and immune cell single type antibody production; for his seminal research in artificial intelligence in biochemistry and medicine; and for his extensive advisory role in government, industry, and international organizations that address themselves to the societal role of science.
From page 78...
... It is broadly integrative across the life sciences, linking basic science, hands-on experience (including field research) , biological aspects of behavioral science, and in the senior year, applications of the life sciences to policy (e.g., in health
From page 79...
... Early in the computer era his interest in computer science grew and he became a pioneer in artificial intelligence, especially in relation to biochemistry, genetics, and medicine. He believed deeply in education of the broad public, opening complex and emotionally charged topics for informed public discussion.
From page 80...
... He had several of his many awards displayed next to the door in this outer office, but when you went into his private inner office, he had only three things on the wall, as I recall. He had a certificate as a ham radio operator (apparently he was very proud of that)
From page 81...
... The developing immune system generates a great number of cells with different, essentially random specificities and then selects from among them and maintains these populations of cells, the "immunologic repertoire." When a new antigen is presented, immune cells can bind to the antigen attach and are stimulated to replicate, hence, "clonal selection." It is basically a Darwinian system that selects from among a large number of variant cells. That idea of clonal selection, Josh told me, was actually a direct application of the evolutionary ideas that Josh brought with him and worked on when he was in Australia.
From page 82...
... He was very interested in the hemorrhagic fever viruses, such as the hantaviruses, and discovered Prospect Hill virus, the first American hantavirus. At that dinner, he was talking with Josh and suggested he should think about the researchers and workers in the university's animal facilities, who might be exposed to a hantavirus such as Seoul or Hantaan (once known as Korean hemorrhagic fever)
From page 83...
... One year, I was fortunate enough to have him address my Columbia graduate class in emerging infectious diseases, as the grand finale for the semester. He talked about the toll of the 1918 influenza pandemic, its effect on life expectancy curves, and many other things.
From page 84...
... This helped to galvanize the IOM into doing a study that Josh had been advocating for some time. The study committee, which was originally the Committee on Microbial Threats to Health but which was rather quickly renamed the Committee on Emerging Microbial Threats to Health in the United States, eventually authored the famous report, Emerging Infections: Microbial Threats to Health in the United States that came out in October 1992.
From page 85...
... Before I close (and I fear I've already taken up more than my space quota) , I think I should say a few words about the early history of the Forum on Microbial Threats, or, as it was then known, the Forum on Emerging Infections.
From page 86...
... A second thing that happened subsequent to publication of the report was that several of us who were concerned about the international ramifications of emerging infections decided to start the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) to plan and promote global surveillance of infectious diseases, especially emerging pathogens.
From page 87...
... from 1996 to 2000 was because Josh convinced the people at DARPA (especially its director at the time, Larry Lynn) that it was necessary to get into biology and seriously consider biological threats.
From page 88...
... Infectious Disease Research From his earliest work when, at the age of just 20, he discovered mating and genetic recombination in Escherichia coli, to the discovery of viral transduction 4Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Department of Molecular Biology, Lewis Thomas Laboratory, Room 228, Princeton, NJ 08544.
From page 89...
... The human biology curriculum was one distinct product of that era that Joshua championed. Joshua, the Leader Being awarded the Nobel Prize at the age of 33 gave Joshua a global perspective that he fully utilized in the subsequent half century.
From page 90...
... They reproduce so quickly, and there are so many of them. They tolerate vast fluctuations of population size as part of their natural history; a fluctuation of 1 percent in our population size is a major catastrophe.
From page 91...
... Joshua was truly a force of nature, a force of nature that was able to unlock some of nature's most enduring secrets. Joshua believed that there are no limits to what the human mind can accomplish -- especially when its power is hitched to a willingness to think boldly and unconventionally and to hard work.
From page 92...
... He had a great confidence in the ability of scientists and researchers to continue to solve some of the riddles that still confront science in the fight against infectious diseases.
From page 93...
... Integration of signal inputs -- IQ: It involves coordinated social action. As an outrageous question, "What could be measured, say in a bacterium, that could map to what might be called ‘intelligence'?
From page 94...
... Emerging Infectious Diseases 4(3)


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