Luc Montagnier was a virologist who shared a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for co-discovering HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
- Died: February 8, 2022 (Who else died on February 8?)
- Details of death: Died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France at the age of 89.
Nobel-winning career
Montagnier was the founder of the Viral Oncology Unit at the Pasteur Institute, a renowned facility where infectious diseases are studied. After founding the unit in 1972, he worked as its director, and it was in that capacity that he was sent a tissue sample that would lead to his crucial discovery. In 1983, as AIDS was still a disease that baffled doctors, Montagnier received a piece of lymph node from a man with AIDS. He and his team identified a new retrovirus in the sample, initially calling it lymphadenopathy associated virus (LAV). The virus was later renamed HIV after a bitter feud between Montagnier’s team and a team of Americans doing similar research. Years later, in 2008, Montagnier was honored with the Nobel Prize for his work. He also worked on a therapeutic vaccine for AIDS.
In later years, Montagnier embarked on more controversial work. This included a study in which he claimed that DNA emits electromagnetic radiation, a conclusion that many of his scientific colleagues condemned as unsupportable. He invited further controversy in 2021 when he spoke out against COVID-19 vaccination programs.
Notable quote
“[E]ven after 20 years we are still fighting this virus, very strongly, the AIDS epidemic… is still spreading in Africa… so the fight is not finished. And I appreciate that the Nobel Committee has put on the air this important disease which is not finished, and my message is that we should continue the research.” —from a 2008 interview for Nobelprize.org
Full obituary: The New York Times
