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Jacques Monod

French biologist and biochemist, Nobel laureate (1910-1976) · France · Doctors · Died at 66

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He cracked how a cell decides which proteins to make and when to make them - the genetic switch that turns genes on or off. That work on a humble bacterium and a sugar called lactose opened the entire field of gene regulation.

ScientistsDoctorMedicineChemistryFranceEurope20th Century

A life in dates

1976Died31 May 19761971“The first scientific postulate is the objectivity of nature: nature does not have any intention or goal.”In their wordsChance and Necessity: An Essay on the Natural Philosophy of Modern Biology by Jacques Monod, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1971, ISBN

1969Leeuwenhoek LectureAwardMarjory Stephenson PrizeAward1968Foreign Member of the Royal SocietyAward1965“One day, almost exactly 25 years ago - it was at the beginning of the bleak winter of 1940 - I entered ’s office at the Pasteur Institute.”In their words11 December 1965Introduction

“There is in science, however, quite a gap between belief and certainty.”In their words11 December 1965From enzymatic adaptation to allosteric transitions. Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1965

Carus medalAwardNobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineAward1963Officer of the Legion of HonourAward1962Grand Prix Charles-Leopold MayerAward1955Montyon Science AwardAward1926“Anything found to be true of E. coli must also be true of elephants.”In their wordsMonod adapted this aphorism from an expression of the same idea made in 1926 by the Dutch microbiologist Albert Kluyver: “From the elephant

1910Born9 February 1910

Also in Deutsch

Photos 5

Jacques Monod 1971Jacques Monod 1971Cannes 2008-05-25 038Cannes 2008-05-25 038Jacques Monod nobel (cropped)Jacques Monod nobel (cropped)Jacques Monod nobelJacques Monod nobelSquare Jacques Monod, Rennes, 2019Square Jacques Monod, Rennes, 2019

In their own words 5

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Jacques Monod
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5 statements, newest first

  1. The first scientific postulate is the objectivity of nature: nature does not have any intention or goal.

    1971, Chance and Necessity: An Essay on the Natural Philosophy of Modern Biology by Jacques Monod, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1971, ISBN, Own words

  2. One day, almost exactly 25 years ago - it was at the beginning of the bleak winter of 1940 - I entered ’s office at the Pasteur Institute.

    Dec 11, 1965, Introduction, Own words

  3. There is in science, however, quite a gap between belief and certainty.

    Dec 11, 1965, From enzymatic adaptation to allosteric transitions. Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1965, Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Marjory Stephenson Prize1969
Leeuwenhoek Lecture1969
Foreign Member of the Royal Society1968
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine1965
Carus medal1965
Officer of the Legion of Honour1963
Grand Prix Charles-Leopold Mayer1962
Montyon Science Award1955
Croix de guerre 1939-1945
Knight of the French Order of Academic Palms
Resistance Medal

Family

Parents

Jacques Monod

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About this person

Jacques Lucien Monod was born in France on 9 February 1910 and trained as a biochemist. Working with François Jacob on E. coli and the lac operon, he built a model showing that a repressor protein binds to a specific DNA site - the operator - and blocks the manufacture of enzymes needed to break down lactose. The insight revealed the first clear system for how transcription gets regulated: genes aren't always on, they answer to molecular switches. Monod also proposed the existence of messenger RNA, the middleman carrying instructions from DNA to protein. He shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Jacob and André Lwoff for discoveries on genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis. He died on 31 May 1976, recognised as one of the founders of molecular biology.

Country
France
Category
Doctors
Type
Doctor
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1910 to 1976 · aged 66

Doctors from France 6

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