Lwoff, Andre, << lwawf, ahn DRAY >> (1902-1994), a French microbiologist, shared the 1965 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine with Francois Jacob and Jacques Monod. The three scientists, all members of the Pasteur Institute in Paris, studied the cells of bacteria. They discovered a previously unknown class of genes that regulate other genes. Radiation and some chemicals can damage these regulatory genes and make them function improperly. Without regulation, other genes can become overactive. This overactivity can lead to cell damage or excessive cell growth and division. Since Lwoff and his colleagues discovered regulatory genes, study of their activity has become a major area of cancer research.
Lwoff was born near Vichy, France. He earned bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in natural science, and a Doctor of Medicine degree. His studies of nutrition in one-celled animals during the 1930’s contributed to the discovery that vitamins affect growth. Lwoff spent most of his professional career at the Pasteur Institute. After 1959, he also taught microbiology at the Sorbonne. Lwoff was active in the French resistance during World War II (1939-1945). He was appointed an officer of the French Legion of Honor.
