French Discoverer of HIV, Luc Montagnier, Dies at 89

Dr. Montagnier, a virologist, led the team that in 1983 determined the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which causes AIDS, foremost him to share the 2008 Nobel Prize in drugs with colleague
Françoise Barré-Sinoussi.

He was born in 1932 in the village of Chabris in central France.

According to his autobiography on the Nobel Prize web page, Dr. Montagnier analyzed medication in Poitiers and Paris. He explained current scientific discoveries in 1957 influenced him to turn into a virologist in the quickly advancing industry of molecular biology.

He joined the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in 1960 and turned head of the Pasteur Institute’s virology section in 1972.

“My involvement in AIDS started in 1982, when the information circulated that a transmissible agent—possibly a virus—could be at the origin of this new mysterious disease,” Dr. Montagnier mentioned in his autobiography.

In 1983, a functioning group led by him and Dr. Barré-Sinoussi at the Pasteur Institute isolated the virus that would afterwards turn out to be identified as HIV, and was able to clarify how it prompted AIDS.

American scientist
Robert Gallo
claimed to have observed the exact same virus at practically specifically the same time, sparking a disagreement in excess of which person need to get the credit. The U.S. and France settled a dispute more than the patent for an AIDS test in 1987. Dr. Montagnier was later on credited as the discoverer of the virus, Dr. Gallo as the creator of the 1st take a look at.

Starting about the close of the 2000s, Dr. Montagnier started expressing views that led to his becoming shunned by considerably of the worldwide scientific group.

As Covid-19 spread across the world and conspiracy theories flourished, Dr. Montagnier was among the those repeating misinformation about the origins of the coronavirus.

In the course of a 2020 interview with French information broadcaster CNews, he claimed that the coronavirus didn’t originate in nature and was manipulated. Professionals who have appeared at the genome sequence of the virus have claimed Dr. Montagnier’s statement was incorrect.

At the time, AP designed several unsuccessful attempts to call Dr. Montagnier.

Past yr, he claimed in a French documentary that Covid-19 vaccines led to the generation of coronavirus variants.

Authorities contacted by the Associated Push mentioned variants located throughout the world began rising lengthy prior to vaccines ended up extensively offered. They mentioned the proof implies new variants advanced as a consequence of prolonged viral bacterial infections in the inhabitants and not vaccines, which are developed to prevent this kind of infections.

Previously this calendar year, Dr. Montagnier shipped a speech at a protest versus vaccine certificates in Milan.

Dr. Montagnier was emeritus professor at the Pasteur Institute and emeritus research director at the CNRS. He won various awards, such as France’s optimum decoration, the Legion of Honor.