The Michael Heidelberger Papers

Title:

Letter from Michael Heidelberger to Joshua Lederberg

Description:

In this exchange between Heidelberger and the molecular geneticist Joshua Lederberg, the two agree on the need to elucidate in detail the chemical composition and three-dimensional structure of pneumococcal and other antigenic polysaccharides, a need Heidelberger was addressing at the time through his examination of immunological cross-reactions. Such cross-reactions, in which antigens react with certain non-homologous antibodies (antibodies formed against another antigen with which the first antigen shares closely-related or identical antigenic determinants, a site on the surface of an antigen molecule to which a single antibody binds), told organic chemists like Heidelberger much about the arrangement of the sugars in the repeating chemical units of polysaccharides, which in turn determined their immunological properties.

Number of Image Pages:

1 (71,680 Bytes)

Date:

1956-11-28 (November 28, 1956)

Creator:

Heidelberger, Michael

Recipient:

Lederberg, Joshua

Rights:

This item is in the public domain. It may be used without permission.

Subject:

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH):: Polysaccharides; Molecular Structure

Exhibit Category:

"If I Have a Few More Years to Work, I'm Going Ahead": An Active Retirement, 1954-1991

Relation:

Letter from Joshua Lederberg to Michael Heidelberger (November 12, 1956)

Letter from Joshua Lederberg to Michael Heidelberger (November 30, 1956)

Box Number: 4

Folder Number: 1

Unique Identifier:

DHBBMM

Document Type:

Letters (correspondence)

Language:

English

Format:

application/pdf

image/tif

Physical Condition:

Good

Folder: MS C 245 (first finding aid)

Metadata Last Modified Date:

2006-06-13

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