The E. coli Genetic Stock Center was established by Edward Adelberg at Yale University in 1971. Barbara Bachmann was initially hired as curator and later become director of the center until her retirement in 1995. She was instrumental in both maintaining the strain collection but also standardizing the E. coli K-12 genetic mapcreating a common system for all K-12 researchers. She published 8 editions of the E. colilinkage map as well a pedigree of common K-12 strains. One of her publications of the E. coli linkage map in 1983 and 1991 became one of the most cited articles in all of biology those years.
Awards and honors
Barbara Bachmann was honored with the J. Roger Porter Award in 1986 for her work curating the E. coli genetic stock center.