Philip Leder is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 geneticist

Geneticist

A geneticist is a biologist who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a researcher or lecturer. Some geneticists perform experiments and analyze data to interpret the inheritance of skills. A geneticist is also a Consultant or...

. He was born in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

  and studied at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, graduating in 1956. In 1960, he graduated from Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....

.

He is known for his early work with Marshall Nirenberg in the elucidation of the genetic code

Genetic code

The genetic code is the set of rules by which information encoded in genetic material is translated into proteins by living cells....

 and the Nirenberg and Leder experiment

Nirenberg and Leder experiment

The Nirenberg and Leder experiment was a scientific experiment performed in 1964 by Marshall W. Nirenberg and Philip Leder. The experiment elucidated the triplet nature of the genetic code and allowed the remaining ambiguities codons in the genetic code to be deciphered.In this experiment, using a...

. Since that landmark experiment, he has made many seminal contributions in the fields of molecular genetics

Molecular genetics

Molecular genetics is the field of biology and genetics that studies the structure and function of genes at a molecular level. The field studies how the genes are transferred from generation to generation. Molecular genetics employs the methods of genetics and molecular biology...

, immunology

Immunology

Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the...

 and the genetic basis of cancer. In 1988, Leder and Timothy Stewart

Timothy A Stewart

Timothy A Stewart is a molecular biologist. He graduated from the University of Otago Stewart was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. He was a pioneer in the technique of transferring recombinant genes to mice and in 1988 he and Philip Leder were granted a patent on a genetically engineered mammal...

 were granted the first patent on a genetically engineered animal. This animal, a mouse which had genes injected into its embryo to increase susceptibility to cancer, became known as the "oncomouse

Oncomouse

The OncoMouse or Harvard mouse is a type of laboratory mouse that has been genetically modified using modifications designed by Philip Leder and Timothy A Stewart of Harvard University to carry a specific gene called an activated oncogene. The activated oncogene significantly increases the mouse’s...

" and has been used in the laboratory study of cancer therapy.
Leder was the founding Chairman of the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School.

Awards

Dr. Leder is a recipient of the Lasker Award

Lasker Award

The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1946 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine. They are administered by the Lasker Foundation, founded by advertising pioneer Albert Lasker and his wife Mary...

, the National Medal of Science

National Medal of Science

The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...

 and the Harvey Prize

Harvey Prize

The Harvey Prize is awarded by the Technion in Haifa, Israel. It is awarded in different disciplines of Science, Technology, Human Health, and Contributions to Peace in the Middle East. Two awards - each of $75,000 - are given away annually...

.

External links

• Biographical information from the Lasker Foundation
• Biographical information from the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center
• Links to digital facsimiles Dr. Leder's 'Codon notebooks' documenting the Nirenberg and Leder experiment can be found in Hollis, the Harvard University's library catalog
• Professor Leder's listing in Research Matters
• Esquire Magazine