Jacques Monod
- Born
- 9 February 1910
- Died
- 31 May 1976 (age 66)
Jacques Monod was a Noble Prize winning French biologist, often considered as one of the founders of molecular biology, who is famous for his work on bacterial genetics and protein transport, specifically in E. coli.
Monod's work demonstrated how the cell’s production of protein is similar to that of a thermostat, i.e. through feedback loops. He also looked at genetics and found that one type of gene looks after the substances to be manufactured, and another gene regulated the rate of production. Imagine one gene is a button that when pressed makes a cake, but another gene is a button shield, that can sometimes stop the button from being pressed.
Monod was born in Paris and attended a lycée (secondary education in preparation for a bachelor’s degree) in Cannes. In 1928 he began his studies in biology at the University of Paris, a.k.a. the Sorbonne.
Monod discovered that his coursework at the University was decades behind the current understanding and so he owed his true induction to biology to several scientists that he met during a stay at a French marine research and teaching centre in Roscoff.
Upon graduating, Monod held several fellowships in Strasbourg, Paris and finally in California Institute of Technology. His work explored the growth of bacteria – he provided the bacteria with different amounts of sugars to see how they grew and how the sugars affected the way that the bacteria’s genes were activated. He was interested in how enzymes worked, in particular how they maintained the sites on themselves where other molecules attach.
Monod was awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Paris in 1941, but due to prejudices associated with WWII, Monod was unable to work at the university and instead took up at the Pasteur Institute, a non-profit foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases and vaccines. Here he held a variety of posts, starting as a Laboratory Director and finishing as the Director of the Institute in 1971.
In 1938, Jacques Monod married Odette Bruhl. They have twin sons, Olivier and Philippe. Jacques is said to have attempted to dissuade his sons from beginning a career in science, saying that 'the realm of knowledge and ideas is not confined to the present-day connotation of the word ‘science’’. Olivier and Philippe both became scientists regardless.
Monod was also a musician and esteemed writer on the philosophy of science, viewing life on earth as a freak chemical accident rather than any holy ideology.