# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/theodor-otto-diener
# Generated: 2026-08-15T09:58:56.562Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/theodor-otto-diener"
name: "Theodor Otto Diener"
slug: "theodor-otto-diener"
description: "Theodor Otto Diener was a Swiss-American plant pathologist who discovered viroids in 1971, recognized by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses as a new order of subviral agents. He discovered that the potato spindle tuber disease is not caused by a virus, unexpectedly, but a short strand of RNA without protein capsid, which he termed viroid. He received the Wolf Prize in Agriculture, the highest in the field."
tagline: "American phytopathologist (1921–2023)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Theodor_O_Diener.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Scientists"
  slug: "scientists"
profileType:
  name: "Scientist"
  slug: "scientist"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1921-02-28"
deathDate: "2023-03-28"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           42.46
  momentum:             0
  historical:           10.01188
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E5%A5%A5%E5%A4%9A%C2%B7O%C2%B7%E8%BF%AA%E7%BA%B3"
    title: "西奥多·O·迪纳"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AB%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B1_%D8%A3%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%88_%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%B1"
    title: "ثيودور أوتو داينر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AB%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%88_%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%B1"
    title: "ثيودور اوتو داينر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_O._Diener"
    title: "Theodor O. Diener"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Otto_Diener"
    title: "Theodor Otto Diener"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Otto_Diener"
    title: "Theodor Otto Diener"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%BB%E3%82%AA%E3%83%89%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BB%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3%E3%83%BC%E3%83%8A%E3%83%BC"
    title: "セオドール・ディーナー"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%ED%85%8C%EC%98%A4%EB%8F%84%EB%A5%B4_%EC%98%A4%ED%86%A0_%EB%94%94%EB%84%88"
    title: "테오도르 오토 디너"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Diener"
    title: "Theodor Diener"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Otto_Diener"
    title: "Theodor Otto Diener"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%80%2C_%D0%A2%D0%B5%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%80_%D0%9E%D1%82%D1%82%D0%BE"
    title: "Динер, Теодор Отто"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2463965"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump