Roger Charles Louis Guillemin (; January 11, 1924 – February 21, 2024) was a French-American neuroscientist. He received the

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science, behavior ...

in 1976, and the

Nobel Prize for Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accor ...

in 1977 for his work on

neurohormone A neurohormone is any hormone produced and released by neuroendocrine cells (also called neurosecretory cells) into the blood. By definition of being hormones, they are secreted into the circulation for systemic effect, but they can also have a ro ...

s, sharing the prize that year with

Andrew Schally Andrzej Viktor "Andrew" Schally (30 November 1926 – 17 October 2024) was a Polish-American endocrinologist who was a co-recipient, with Roger Guillemin and Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.Andrew V. Scha ...

and

Rosalyn Sussman Yalow Rosalyn Sussman Yalow (July 19, 1921 – May 30, 2011) was an American medical physicist, and a co-winner of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (together with Roger Guillemin and Andrew Schally) for development of the radioimmunoass ...

Biography

Guillemin was born in

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

, France. After secondary studies at the Lycée Carnot in Dijon, he began his medical studies at the

University of Dijon A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

in 1943. He completed his medical studies at the

University of Lyon The University of Lyon ( , or UdL) is a university system ( ''ComUE'') based in Lyon, France. It comprises 12 members and 9 associated institutions. The 3 main constituent universities in this center are: Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, which f ...

and received MD degree in 1949. He worked as a doctor in a small village in Burgundy, and went to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, Canada, to work with

Hans Selye János Hugo Bruno "Hans" Selye (; ; January 26, 1907 – October 16, 1982) was a Hungarian-Canadian endocrinologist who conducted important scientific work on the hypothetical non-specific response of an organism to stressors. Although he did ...

at the Institute of Experimental Medicine and Surgery at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

where he received a Ph.D. in 1953. In 1965, he became a

naturalized citizen of the United States Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constit ...

. In 1954, Guillemin observed that

pituitary cells The pituitary gland or hypophysis is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans, the pituitary gland is located at the base of the brain, protruding off the bottom of the hypothalamus. The pituitary gland and the hypothalamus control much of th ...

did not produce hormones unless hypothalamic cells were present, supporting the theory that the hypothalamus controls the pituitary through hormones, dubbed releasing factors. Guillemin moved to

Baylor College of Medicine The Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a private medical school in Houston, Texas, United States. Originally as the Baylor University College of Medicine from 1903 to 1969, the college became independent with the current name and has been se ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

to develop this finding. Andrzej V. Schally, known in the US as

, joined him in 1957. Their partnership dissolved after five years due to lack of progress and personal conflicts; Schally moved to the

Veterans Affairs Hospital Veterans' health care in the United States is separated geographically into 19 regions (numbered 1, 2, 4–10, 12 and 15–23)In January 2002, the Veterans Health Administration announced the merger of VISNs 13 and 14 to create a new, combined n ...

in New Orleans. Both scientists then worked independently, processing large quantities of hypothalami—Guillemin used over two million sheep hypothalami, while Schally used pig brains—funded by the U.S. government. These release factors are present in an extremely low amounts in the hypothalamus, and it was hard to detect them using the instrumentation available at that time. Their rivalry intensified, particularly regarding scientific credit. In 1969, as government funding was about to be cut off,

Roger Burgus Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

from Guillemin's team made a breakthrough, identifying the

thyrotropin-releasing factor Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) is a hypophysiotropic hormone produced by neurons in the hypothalamus that stimulates the release of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) as well as prolactin from the anterior pituitary. TRH has been used c ...

(TRF), which controls the

thyroid gland The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans, it is a butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck below the Adam's apple. It consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by ...

. This achievement secured continued funding and led to the identification of another releasing factor, FRF, which controls reproductive systems. Guillemin and Schally discovered the structures of

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) is a hypophysiotropic hormone produced by neurons in the hypothalamus that stimulates the release of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) as well as prolactin from the anterior pituitary. TRH has been used ...

(TRH) and

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is a releasing hormone responsible for the release of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) from the anterior pituitary. GnRH is a tropic peptide hormone synthesized and rele ...

(GnRH) in separate laboratories. They were awarded the 1977

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, acco ...

for this discovery. In 1970 he joined the

Salk Institute The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine; among th ...

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

, where he was the head of the Laboratories for

Neuroendocrinology Neuroendocrinology is the branch of biology (specifically of physiology) which studies the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine system; i.e. how the brain regulates the hormonal activity in the body. The nervous and endocrine ...

until retirement in 1989. Here, he discovered

somatostatin Somatostatin, also known as growth hormone-inhibiting hormone (GHIH) or by #Nomenclature, several other names, is a peptide hormone that regulates the endocrine system and affects neurotransmission and cell proliferation via interaction with G ...

, and was "among the first" to isolate

endorphin Endorphins (contracted from endogenous morphine) are peptides produced in the brain that block the perception of pain and increase feelings of wellbeing. They are produced and stored in the pituitary gland of the brain. Endorphins are endogeno ...

s. Guillemin protege,

Wylie Vale Jr. Wylie Walker Vale Jr. (July 3, 1941 – January 3, 2012) was an American endocrinologist who helped identify hormones controlling basic bodily functions. Early life and education Vale was born in Houston, Texas, on July 3, 1941. He completed a B. ...

, established his own laboratory at Salk in 1977; their attempts of finding releasing factors was described as "yet another furious rivalry"; Vale's lab was first to purify and sequence the CRF. In 2007, Guillemin was an interim president of the Salk Institute. Guillemin signed along with other Nobel Prize winners a petition requesting a delegation of the Committee on the Rights of the Children of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

to visit a Tibetan child who had been under house arrest in China since 1995, namely

Gedhun Choekyi Nyima Gedhun Choekyi Nyima (born 25 April 1989) is the 11th Panchen Lama belonging to the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism, as recognized and announced by the 14th Dalai Lama on 14 May 1995. Three days later, on 17 May, the six-year-old Panchen Lam ...

, recognized as the 11th

Panchen Lama The Panchen Lama () is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to the Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high la ...

by the 14th

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

Tenzin Gyatso The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...

. Guillemin

turned 100 A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

on January 11, 2024, and died in San Diego, California the following month, on February 21. He was married to Lucienne Jeanne Billard for 69 years, until her death in 2021 at the age of 100. They had five daughters and a son.

Awards and honors

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, 1974 *

Canada Gairdner International Award The Canada Gairdner International Award is given annually by the Gairdner Foundation at a special dinner to five individuals for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a ...

, 1974 *

Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research The Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research is one of the Lasker Award, prizes awarded by the Lasker Foundation for a fundamental discovery that opens up a new area of biomedical science. The award frequently precedes a Nobel Prize in Phys ...

, 1975 * Dickson Prize in Medicine, 1976 *

Passano Award The Passano Foundation, established in 1945, provides an annual award to a research scientist whose work – done in the United States – is thought to have immediate practical benefits. Many Passano laureates have subsequently won the Nobel Priz ...

in Medical Sciences, 1976 *

, 1976 *

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, 1977 *

, 1977

References

External links

*
Salk Institute faculty page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guillemin, Roger 1924 births 2024 deaths Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Physicians from Dijon Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine French Nobel laureates American endocrinologists French emigrants to the United States National Medal of Science laureates Commanders of the Legion of Honour French neuroscientists Université de Montréal alumni Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Baylor College of Medicine physicians and researchers Recipients of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research University of Burgundy alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Naturalized citizens of the United States Salk Institute for Biological Studies people American men centenarians French men centenarians

Biography

Awards and honors

References

Further reading

External links