Ryan was born on February 1, 1916, in
Brooklyn, New York. He received his B.A. from
Columbia University in 1937 and his Ph.D. in 1941. Ryan's research focused on a variety of fields, including experimental
embryology,
microbial genetics, and he did research on
escherichia coli to understand how information about an organism is imprinted in its genetic structure. He was also a Fulbright Professor at the
University of Tokyo in 1955–1956, during which he also served as a consultant to Japanese microbiologists in industry and universities. He was also a trustee of the
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Ryan died of a heart attack on July 14, 1963, at 47 years old. == References ==