1. Article | 2016.11.10

   The early years 1847-1862

   In 1847 Louis Pasteur, a young chemist freshly graduated from the prestigious Ecole normale supérieure, set to work on the problem posed by German physicist Eilhard Mitscherlich, namely, why do sodium ammonium paratartrate and tartrate - two seemingly identical chemical substances - affect polarized light differently ?

2. Article | 2016.11.10

   The middle years 1862-1877

   Louis Pasteur’s work raised a new set of research questions, such as " Where do fermentation agents come from ? " and " Do they originate from germs similar to themselves or do they appear spontaneously as explained by the spontaneous generation theory ? "

3. Article | 2016.11.10

   The final years 1877-1887

   Between the age of 55 and 65 Louis Pasteur developed microbiology, applying it to medicine and surgery. Having established that diseases were caused by microorganisms, he then sought to identify and find a means of fighting them. His finest accomplishment was rabies.

4. Article | 2016.11.15

   Alphonse Laveran (1845-1922)

   Alphonse Laveran was France’s first Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. He discovered the parasite that causes malaria.

5. Article | 2016.11.15

   Ilya Mechnikov, Elie Metchnikoff in French (1845-1916)

   Ilya Ilitch Metchnikov discovered phagocytes and phagocytosis in 1883. He is considered the father of cell-mediated immunity as opposed to the humoral immunity observed by Paul Ehrlich. He was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize with Paul Ehrlich in 1908.

6. Article | 2016.11.15

   Jules Bordet (1870-1961)

   In 1919 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on the role of antibodies and the complement system. Jules Bordet’s discoveries expanded early 20th century knowledge of immunology considerably.

7. Article | 2016.11.15

   Charles Nicolle (1866-1936)

   In 1928 Charles Nicolle won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on typhus. He notably discovered the role of lice in transmission of the infection in humans.

8. Article | 2016.11.15

   Daniel Bovet (1907-1992)

   In 1957, Swiss-born Daniel Bovet won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries relating to synthetic compounds and their effects on blood vessels and skeletal muscles. Daniel Bovet discovered the first antihistamine and the first synthetic curare-like agents. He pioneered medicinal chemistry.

9. Article | 2016.11.15

   André Lwoff (1902-1994)

   The scientific work of André Lwoff was dominated by two major discoveries: bacterial growth factors and dormant forms of bacterial viruses called prophages. With François Jacob and Jacques Monod he was awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize in Medicine "for their discovery relating to the genetic regulation of enzyme and virus synthesis."

10. Article | 2016.11.15

    Jacques Monod (1910-1976)

    For Jacques Monod molecular biology was a way to piece together the puzzle explaining the mechanisms shared throughout the living world, from bacteria to complex animals. Inspired by André Lwoff, Jacques Monod worked closely with François Jacob to discover the first genetic regulation system, for which they coined the name operon. Four years after publication of the discovery the three scientists...

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