Élie Léo Wollman (July 4, 1917 – June 1, 2008) was a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
microbial geneticist who first described
plasmid
A plasmid is a small, extrachromosomal DNA molecule within a cell that is physically separated from chromosomal DNA and can replicate independently. They are most commonly found as small circular, double-stranded DNA molecules in bacteria; how ...
s (what he termed "episomes"), and served as vice director of research for the
Pasteur Institute for twenty years.
He was awarded the 1976
Grand Prix Charles-Leopold Mayer by the
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...
and
Chevalier of the French
Legion of Honour.
Research
* In his lab at the
Pasteur Institute in
Paris Wollman played a key role in the elucidation of the organization of
genetic material.
* Developed the experimental method of interrupted mating, which underpinned the gene mapping of bacterial chromosomes.
This work laid the foundation for
Francois Jacob's
Nobel prize-winning work.
* With
Francois Jacob, he published a monograph, ''Sexuality and the genetics of bacteria'' (French title: ''La sexualité des bactéries''), in 1959.
Selected publications
*
*
References
External Links
Robert Dantzer and Keith W. Kelley, "Elie Wollman", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2009)
1917 births
2008 deaths
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
French geneticists
Members of the Académie Française
French molecular biologists
Phage workers
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
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