AFP, published on Sunday, February 20, 2022 at 6:30 p.m.
The biologist François Gros, who took part in all the adventures of modern biology, in particular the discovery of messenger RNA, died Friday at the age of 96, we learned on Sunday from the Academy of science.
“François Gros died on February 18,” Etienne Ghys, mathematician and permanent secretary of the Academy of Sciences, told AFP, a position that François Gros had held from 1991 to 2000.
Co-discoverer of messenger RNA, the molecular intermediary of the DNA genetic code, his contribution to the deciphering of the gene was crucial. His work paved the way, almost 60 years later, for the use of this technology in the main vaccines used once morest Covid-19.
This world-renowned researcher was born in Paris on April 24, 1925 into a “non-practicing Jewish” family. He had retreated to Toulouse during the Second World War. “Perpetually at the mercy of denunciation”, he changed his name regularly, he said in his “Scientific Memoirs – Half a Century of Biology” (2003).
François Gros contributed, alongside the most eminent figures in scientific research, to the birth of molecular biology which was to revolutionize the life sciences.
“The work of François Gros was decisive in the discovery of messenger RNA. An eminent specialist in molecular biology, he paved the way for the development of vaccines once morest Covid-19”, wrote the Minister of Higher Education and of Research, Frédérique Vidal, on his Twitter account. “His legacy is an immense hope for humanity.”
He had befriended François Mitterrand, and had been the scientific adviser to Pierre Mauroy, then Prime Minister, then to Laurent Fabius in the early 80s.
In a statement to AFP, Jean-Pierre Chevènement indicates that François Gros “had provided him with valuable assistance in the organization of major conferences on Research and in the development of the law on the orientation and programming of Research. of 1982”.
“I bow to this great scientist who was also a humanist,” adds the man who was Minister of Research and Industry at the time.
