François Jacob
François Jacob | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 June 1920 Nancy, France |
| Died | 19 April 2013 (aged 92) Paris, France |
| Alma mater | University of Paris |
| Known for | Operon model |
| Spouses |
Geneviève Barrier (m. 1999) |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Molecular biology |
François Jacob (French: [ʒakɔb]; 17 June 1920 – 19 April 2013) was a French biologist. He shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Jacques Monod and André Lwoff "for their discoveries concerning genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis." He and Monod originated the idea that control of enzyme levels in all cells occurs through regulation of transcription. For his work in the French Resistance, he received the Cross of Liberation, the Légion d'honneur and Croix de guerre.
He wrote popular science, and in 1994 received the inaugural Lewis Thomas Prize.