He is one of the greatest French scientists who died. Biologist François Gros, who participated in all the adventures of modern biology, including the discovery of messenger RNA, died Friday at the age of 95, AFP learned on Sunday from the Academy of Sciences. .
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 against Covid-19.
He participated in the birth of molecular biology
François Gros contributed, alongside the most eminent figures in scientific research, to the birth of molecular biology, which has revolutionized the life sciences.
This world-renowned researcher was born in Paris on April 24, 1925 into a “non-practicing Israelite” family. He had retreated to Toulouse during the Second World War. “Perpetually at the mercy of a denunciation”, he changed his name regularly, he had told in his Scientific memoirs – Half a century of biology (2003).