Francis-André Wollman is a French

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

born on 5 May 1953. He is a research director at the

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

and works at the

Institut de biologie physico-chimique The Institut de biologie physico-chimique (IBPC) is a research center located in Paris, in the “Curie campus”, in the 5th arrondissement. Administratively it is a research federation (FR550) of the National Center for Scientific Research. ...

(IBPC) in Paris. He is a member of the

French Academy of sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

. His grandparents, Eugène and Elisabeth Wollman, researchers at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (, ) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies. Th ...

, were the pioneers of discoveries on

phage A bacteriophage (), also known informally as a phage (), is a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria. The term is derived . Bacteriophages are composed of proteins that encapsulate a DNA or RNA genome, and may have structures tha ...

and

lysogeny Lysogeny, or the lysogenic cycle, is one of two cycles of viral reproduction (the lytic cycle being the other). Lysogeny is characterized by integration of the bacteriophage nucleic acid into the host bacterium's genome or formation of a circ ...

(

André Lwoff André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal ...

's later work earned him the Nobel Prize in 1965). Their work was brutally interrupted in December 1943 following their arrest by the French police and their murder in

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

(a prize from the Academy of Sciences is dedicated to them). His father

Élie Wollman Élie Léo Wollman (July 4, 1917 – June 1, 2008) was a French microbial geneticist who first described plasmids (what he termed "episomes"), and served as vice director of research for the Pasteur Institute for twenty years. He was awarded th ...

, also a researcher at the Pasteur Institute, of which he was deputy director for many years, was one of the pioneers of

bacterial genetics Bacterial genetics is the subfield of genetics devoted to the study of bacterial genes. Bacterial genetics are subtly different from eukaryotic genetics, however bacteria still serve as a good model for animal genetic studies. One of the major dis ...

and brought to light the genetic nature of prophecy and the sexuality of bacteria. This last work was done in collaboration with

François Jacob François Jacob (; 17 June 1920 – 19 April 2013) was a French biologist who, together with Jacques Monod, originated the idea that control of enzyme levels in all cells occurs through regulation of transcription. He shared the 1965 Nobel ...

, who was awarded the Nobel Prize, also in 1965.

Biography

After studying physico-chemistry at university, he received a scholarship from the Délégation Générale à la Recherche Scientifique et Technique (DGRST) in 1975 to study biological membranes. In 1977 he completed his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at the

University of Paris VII Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Diderot merged with Paris ...

(now Paris Diderot), followed in 1982 by a State Thesis (Habilitation) at the same university. He spent his entire career at the

, where he was appointed Director of Exceptional Class Research in 2005 after having joined in 1980 as a research associate. He does all his scientific research at the IBPC in Paris, a research establishment founded in 1927 where he joined

Pierre Joliot Pierre Adrien Joliot-Curie (born 12 March 1932) is a French biologist and researcher for the French National Centre for Scientific Research, specialising in photosynthesis. A researcher there since 1956, he became a Director of Research in 1974 a ...

's laboratory in 1975. From 1998 to 2018, he will head this laboratory, which has become a joint CNRS- Université-Pierre et Marie Curie research unit, under the title "Physiologie Membranaire et Moléculaire du Chloroplaste" (UMR7141). At the same time, in 2007, he was appointed Director of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Biology, a position he held until 2018. In 2012, he also became Director of the "Labex DYNAMO" Laboratory of Excellence, which brings together biologists and chemists working at the IBPC at the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

and the Ecole Normale Supérieure on different aspects of biogenesis, the function and evolution of energy-transmitting membranes. Very committed to the defence of public research, whose cultural, educational and economic dimensions seem essential to the country's influence, he presided over the Plant Biology section of the National Committee for Scientific Research from 2000 to 2004, then sat on the High Council for Research and Technology from 2005 to 2014 and on the CNRS Scientific Council from 2014 to 2018. In 2004, he actively participated in the "Save Research" movement and became a member of the board of the Initiative and Proposal Committee (CIP), led by Etienne-Emile Baulieu and Edouard Brezin (President and vice-president of the French Academy of sciences), which organizes the Etats Généraux de la Recherche in

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

Scientific work

Francis-André Wollman's scientific work has been devoted to the

biogenesis Spontaneous generation is a Superseded scientific theories, superseded scientific theory that held that living creatures could arise from abiotic component, non-living matter and that such processes were commonplace and regular. It was Hypoth ...

, regulation and evolution of oxygen

photosynthesis Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...

. Using the power of the genetic approach in a

microalgae Microalgae or microphytes are microscopic scale, microscopic algae invisible to the naked eye. They are phytoplankton typically found in freshwater and marine life, marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. They are unicellul ...

, '' Chlamydomonas reinhartdii,'' he combined

biophysical Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. B ...

biochemical Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, ...

and

structural biology Structural biology deals with structural analysis of living material (formed, composed of, and/or maintained and refined by living cells) at every level of organization. Early structural biologists throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries we ...

approaches to establish an exhaustive mapping of the composition of photosynthesis proteins and their supramolecular organization within photosynthetic membranes. He showed how dynamic this organization is in allowing photosynthesis to react to changes in the environment. His work on the biogenesis of the photosynthetic apparatus has led him to identify post-

endosymbiotic An endosymbiont or endobiont is an organism that lives within the body or cells of another organism. Typically the two organisms are in a mutualistic relationship. Examples are nitrogen-fixing bacteria (called rhizobia), which live in the root ...

innovations that are decisive for the genetic integration of nucleo-

cytosol The cytosol, also known as cytoplasmic matrix or groundplasm, is one of the liquids found inside cells ( intracellular fluid (ICF)). It is separated into compartments by membranes. For example, the mitochondrial matrix separates the mitochondri ...

ic and chloroplastic compartments. His work shows how the

nucleus Nucleus (: nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucleu ...

of the photosynthetic cell has taken control of the expression of chloroplast genes. He discovered, in the chloroplast, an original mechanism of self-regulation of translation for certain photosynthesis proteins that are only produced if they can be assembled in a functional protein complex (CES process). Recently, he revisited the early days of

endosymbiosis An endosymbiont or endobiont is an organism that lives within the body or cells of another organism. Typically the two organisms are in a mutualism (biology), mutualistic relationship. Examples are nitrogen-fixing bacteria (called rhizobia), whi ...

by showing how protein addressing signals to intracellular

organelle In cell biology, an organelle is a specialized subunit, usually within a cell (biology), cell, that has a specific function. The name ''organelle'' comes from the idea that these structures are parts of cells, as Organ (anatomy), organs are to th ...

s would derive from antimicrobial

peptide Peptides are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. A polypeptide is a longer, continuous, unbranched peptide chain. Polypeptides that have a molecular mass of 10,000 Da or more are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty am ...

s against which the ancestors of

mitochondria A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is us ...

and chloroplasts developed resistance.

Honours and awards

Awards and honours

* 1984: Prize of the French Academy of sciences in homage to the French scientists murdered by the Germans * 1996: Fuller's Prize of the French Academy of sciences * 2000:

CNRS Silver medal The CNRS Silver Medal is a scientific award given every year to about fifteen researchers by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). It is awarded to a researcher for "the originality, quality and importance of their work, re ...

* 2018: Chevalier of the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Scientific societies

* 1999-2003: President of the French Society of Photosynthesis * 2004-2010: Member of the Board of Directors of the International Society of Photosynthesis * 2000: Member of EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organisation) * 2017: Elected member of

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

* 2017: Elected member of the French Academy of sciences * Institutional activities * 2000-2004: President of the Plant Biology Section of the National Committee for Scientific Research * 2005-2014: Member of the Higher Council for Research and Technology, placed under the Ministry of Higher Education and Research. * 2006-2014: Member of the Scientific Council of Life Sciences at the CNRS * 2007-2010: Member of the Scientific Council of the Ile de France region. * 2007-2012: Member of the Board of Directors of

Henri Poincaré University The Henri Poincaré University, or Nancy 1, nicknamed UHP, was a public research university located in Nancy, France. UHP formed the Nancy-Université federation with two other institutions in 2005. In 2012, Nancy-Université was merged with U ...

, Nancy, France. * 2007-2018: Member of the Assembly of 100 of the Institut Pasteur. * 2014: Member of the executive committee of the University of Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) * 2014-2018: Member of the CNRS Scientific Council * 2019: Member of the Board of Directors of the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation

Editorial activities

* Associate editor with Photosynthesis Research (1992-1996) * Publisher associated with Current Genetics (2001- 2010) * Consultant editor at The Plant Cell (2015-2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wollman, Francis-Andre 1953 births 20th-century French biologists Research directors of the French National Centre for Scientific Research French National Centre for Scientific Research awards Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of Academia Europaea Living people 21st-century French scientists Knights of the Legion of Honour Paris Diderot University alumni