Luc Montagnier

French virologist (1932–)

Montagnier, who was born at Chabris in France, was educated at the universities of Poitiers and Paris. He joined the Viral Oncology Unit of the Pasteur Institute in 1972 and was appointed professor of virology in 1985.

Montagnier's team at the Institute were searching for, among other things, possible links between cancers and retroviruses. The retroviruses had been described in 1970 by Temin and Baltimore and were distinguished from other viruses by having RNA rather than DNA genes. In early 1983 they were presented with a blood sample from a patient showing early signs of AIDS. Reverse transcriptase, an enzyme characteristic of retroviruses, was found in the blood. Montagnier sought to identify the virus. It was not HTLV-1, a retrovirus recently discovered by Robert Gallo, as serum from the AIDS patient did not react with samples of HTLV-1 provided by Gallo. The virus was found in T-4 cells, specialized lymphocytes of the immune system, and was therefore named LAV as an acronym for ‘lymphadenopathy associated virus’. Electron micrographs taken of LAV differed from those of HTLV-1.

Montagnier went on to develop a blood test for the presence of LAV. Antibodies to LAV were found in a number of patients with AIDS. As the sensitivity of the test increased, Montagnier was able to identify more and more AIDS patients and by October 1983 he was convinced that LAV was the cause of AIDS. By this time, however, Gallo had isolated a new retrovirus, HTLV-3, which he was equally convinced was the cause of AIDS. It was eventually agreed, despite some considerable initial controversy, that HTLV-3 and LAV were to all intents and purposes the same virus. In 1986 it was officially renamed HIV and the patent for HIV blood tests carried the names of both Gallo and Montagnier.

A further advance was made by Montagnier in late 1985 while examining blood samples from Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. He was puzzled by the fact that some of the samples came from apparently HIV-negative AIDS patients, even though they had been tested with a sensitive new probe. Montagnier resolved the issue by isolating a virus from the samples which differed from electronmicrographs of HIV-1. Montagnier named the virus HIV-2 and demonstrated that antibodies to the new virus were commonly found in blood samples from West African AIDS patients.

Luc Montagnier (born 1932), a prominent virologist whose contributions in understanding the nature of viruses lead to a significant advance in cancer research. Montagnier is also known for discovering the HIV virus that causes AIDS.

Luc Montagnier of the Institut Pasteur in Paris has devoted his career to the study of viruses. He is perhaps best known for his 1983 discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which has been identified as the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) . However, in the twenty years before the onset of the AIDS epidemic, Montagnier made many significant discoveries concerning the nature of viruses. He made major contributions to the understanding of how viruses can alter the genetic information of host organisms, and significantly advanced cancer research. His investigation of interferon, one of the body's defenses against viruses, also opened avenues for medical cures for viral diseases. Montagnier's ongoing research focuses on the search for an AIDS vaccine or cure.

Montagnier was born in Chabris (near Tours), France, the only child of Antoine Montagnier and Marianne Rousselet. He became interested in science in his early childhood through his father, an accountant by profession, who carried out experiments on Sundays in a makeshift laboratory in the basement of the family home. At age fourteen, Montagnier himself conducted nitroglycerine experiments in the basement laboratory. His desire to contribute to medical knowledge was also kindled by his grandfather's long illness and death from colon cancer.

Montagnier attended the Collège de Châtellerault, and then the University of Poitiers, where he received the equivalent of a bachelor's degree in the natural sciences in 1953. Continuing his studies at Poitiers and then at the University of Paris, he received his licence ès sciences in 1955. As an assistant to the science faculty at Paris, he taught physiology at the Sorbonne and in 1960 qualified there for his doctorate in medicine. He was appointed a researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (C.N.R.S.) in 1960, but then went to London for three and a half years to do research at the Medical Research Council at Carshalton.

Viruses are agents which consist of genetic material surrounded by a protective protein shell. They are completely dependent on the cells of a host animal or plant to multiply, a process which begins with the shedding of their own protein shell. The virus research group at Carshalton was investigating ribonucleic acid (RNA), a form of nucleic acid that normally is involved in taking genetic information from deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) (the main carrier of genetic information) and translating it into proteins. Montagnier and F. K. Sanders, investigating viral RNA (a virus that carries its genetic material in RNA rather than DNA), discovered a double-stranded RNA virus that had been made by the replication of a single-stranded RNA. The double-stranded RNA could transfer its genetic information to DNA, allowing the virus to encode itself in the genetic make-up of the host organism. This discovery represented a significant advance in knowledge concerning viruses.

From 1963 to 1965, Montagnier did research at the Institute of Virology in Glasgow, Scotland. Working with Ian MacPherson, he discovered in 1964 that agar, a gelatinous extractive of a red alga, was an excellent substance for culturing cancer cells. Their technique became standard in laboratories investigating oncogenes (genes that have the potential to make normal cells turn cancerous) and cell transformations. Montagnier himself used the new technique to look for cancer-causing viruses in humans after his return to France in 1965.

From 1965 to 1972, Montagnier worked as laboratory director of the Institut de Radium (later called Institut Curie) at Orsay. In 1972, he founded and became director of the viral oncology unit of the Institut Pasteur. Motivated by his findings at Carshalton and the belief that some cancers are caused by viruses, Montagnier's basic research interest during those years was in retroviruses as a potential cause of cancer. Retroviruses possess an enzyme called reverse transcriptase. Montagnier established that reverse transcriptase translates the genetic instructions of the virus from the viral (RNA) form to DNA, allowing the genes of the virus to become permanently established in the cells of the host organism. Once established, the virus can begin to multiply, but it can do so only by multiplying cells of the host organism, forming malignant tumors. In addition, collaborating with Edward De Mayer and Jacqueline De Mayer, Montagnier isolated the messenger RNA of interferon, the cell's first defense against a virus. Ultimately, this research allowed the cloning of interferon genes in a quantity sufficient for research. However, despite widespread hopes for inter-feron as a broadly effective anti-cancer drug, it was initially found to be effective in only a few rare kinds of malignancies.

AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), a tragic epidemic that emerged in the early 1980s, was first adequately characterized around 1982. Its chief feature is that it disables the immune system by which the body defends itself against numerous diseases. It is eventually fatal. By 1993, more than three million people had developed full-blown AIDS. Montagnier believed that a retrovirus might be responsible for AIDS. Researchers had noted that one pre-AIDS condition involved a persistent enlargement of the lymph nodes, called lymphadenopathy. Obtaining some tissue culture from the lymph nodes of an infected patient in 1983, Montagnier and two colleagues, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Jean-Claude Chermann, searched for and found reverse transcriptase, which constitutes evidence of a retrovirus. They isolated a virus they called LAV (lymphadenopathy-associated virus). Later, by international agreement, it was renamed HIV, human immunodeficiency virus. After the virus had been isolated, it was possible to develop a test for antibodies that had developed against it - the HIV test. Montagnier and his group also discovered that HIV attacks T4 cells which are crucial in the immune system. A second similar but not identical HIV virus called HIV-2 was discovered by Montagnier and colleagues in April 1986.

A controversy developed over the patent on the HIV test in the mid-1980s. Robert C. Gallo of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, announced his own discovery of the HIV virus in April 1984 and received the patent on the test. The Institut Pasteur claimed the patent (and the profits) on the basis of Montagnier's earlier discovery of HIV. Despite the controversy, Montagnier continued research and attended numerous scientific meetings with Gallo to share information. Intense mediation efforts by Jonas Salk (the scientist who developed the first polio vaccine) led to an international agreement signed by the scientists and their respective countries in 1987. Montagnier and Gallo agreed to be recognized as codiscoverers of the virus, and the two governments agreed that the profits of the HIV test be shared (most going to a foundation for AIDS research).

The scientific dispute continued to resurface, however. Most HIV viruses from different patients differ by six to twenty percent because of the remarkable ability of the virus to mutate. However, Gallo's virus was less than two percent different from Montagnier's, leading to the suspicion that both viruses were from the same source. The laboratories had exchanged samples in the early 1980s, which strengthened the suspicion. Charges of scientific misconduct on Gallo's part led to an investigation by the National Institutes of Health in 1991, which initially cleared Gallo. In 1992 the investigation was reviewed by the newly created Office of Research Integrity. The ORI report, issued in March of 1993, confirmed that Gallo had in fact "discovered" the virus sent to him by Montagnier. Whether or not Gallo had been aware of this fact in 1983 could not be established, but it was found that he had been guilty of misrepresentations in reporting his research and that his supervision of his research lab had been desultory. The Institut Pasteur immediately revived its claim to the exclusive right to the patent on the HIV test. Gallo objected to the decision by the ORI, however, and took his case before an appeals board at the Department of Health and Human Services. The board in December of 1993 cleared Gallo of all charges, and the ORI subsequently withdrew their charges for lack of proof.

Montagnier's continuing work includes investigation of the envelope proteins of the virus that link it to the T-cell . He is also extensively involved in research of possible drugs to combat AIDS. In 1990 Montagnier hypothesized that a second organism, called a mycoplasma, must be present with the HIV virus for the latter to become deadly. This suggestion, which has proved controversial among most AIDS researchers, is the subject of ongoing research.

Montagnier also wrote The Virus and Man (Odile Jacob, 1994). This book explains how AIDS has transformed not only his life, but also his scientific orientation. He further explains how AIDS research can help scientists to understand and provide better treatment for other affections.

Montagnier married Dorothea Ackerman in 1961. They have three children, Jean-Luc, Anne-Marie, and Francine. He has described himself as an aggressive researcher who spends much time either in the laboratory or traveling to scientific meetings. He enjoys swimming and classical music, and loves to play the piano, especially Mozart sonatas.

French virologist who was one of the to identify the virus that causes AIDS and to develop a blood test for it.

Luc Antoine Montagnier
Luc Montagnier, 1995
Born	18 August 1932 (1932-08-18) (age 77) Chabris, France
Nationality	French
Fields	Virology
Institutions	Pasteur Institute
Known for	Discovery of HIV
Notable awards	2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Luc Antoine Montagnier (born 18 August 1932 in Chabris, Indre) is a French virologist and joint recipient with Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Harald zur Hausen of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.^[1], for his discovery of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Contents 1 History of the discovery of HIV 2 Awards and honors 3 Electromagnetic signals from bacterial DNA 3.1 Legal Battle 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

History of the discovery of HIV

In 1982, he was asked for assistance with establishing the possible underlying retroviral cause of a mysterious new syndrome, AIDS, by Willy Rozenbaum, a clinician at the Hôpital Bichat hospital in Paris. Rozenbaum's role was vital, as he had been openly speculating at scientific meetings that the cause of the disease might be a retrovirus, and it was from a lymph node biopsy taken from one of Rozenbaum's patients that the breakthrough was to come. Jean-Claude Chermann played a vital role in the discovery as well.

By 1983, this group of scientists and doctors, headed by Montagnier, had discovered the causative virus, but did not know whether it caused AIDS.^[2] It was named lymphadenopathy-associated virus, or LAV. A year later, a team led by Robert Gallo of the United States confirmed the discovery of the virus and that it caused AIDS, and renamed it human T-lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III).^[3]

Montagnier's research was conducted at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Whether his or Gallo's group was first to isolate HIV was for many years the subject of an acrimonious dispute. The controversy arose, in part, from the striking similarity between the first two human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) isolates, Lai/LAV (formerly LAV, isolated at the Pasteur Institute) and Lai/IIIB (formerly HTLV-IIIB, reported to be isolated from a pooled culture at the Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology (LTCB) of the National Cancer Institute), compared with the high degree of variability found among subsequent HIV-1 isolates. Gallo's lab was accused (and later cleared) of misappropriating a sample of HIV produced at the Institut Pasteur.^[4]

In November 1990, the United States Office of Research Integrity at the National Institutes of Health commissioned a group at Roche to analyze archival samples established at the Pasteur Institute and the Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology (LTCB) of the National Cancer Institute between 1983 and 1985. The group, led by Sheng-Yung Chang, examined archival specimens and concluded in Nature in 1993 that Gallo's virus had come from Montagnier's lab. Chang determined that the French group's LAV was a virus from one patient that had contaminated a culture from another. On request, Montagnier's group had sent a sample of this culture to Gallo, not knowing it contained two viruses. It then contaminated the pooled culture on which Gallo was working.^[5]

Today it is agreed that Montagnier's group first isolated HIV,^[6] but Gallo's group is credited with demonstrating that the virus causes AIDS and generating much of the science that made the discovery possible, including a technique previously developed by Gallo's lab for growing T cells in the laboratory.^[7] When Montagnier's group first published their discovery, they said HIV's role in causing AIDS "remains to be determined."^[8]

The question of whether the true discoverers of the virus were French or American was more than a matter of prestige. A US government patent for the AIDS test, filed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services and based on what was claimed to be Gallo's identification of the virus, was at stake.^[9] In 1987, both governments attempted to end the dispute by arranging to split the prestige of discovery and the proceeds from the patent 50-50,^[9] naming Montagnier and Gallo co-discoverers.^[8] The two scientists continued to dispute each other's claims until 1987. It was not until President François Mitterrand of France and President Ronald Reagan of the USA met that the major issues were ironed out. The scientific protagonists finally agreed to share credit for the discovery of HIV, and in 1986, both the French and the US names (LAV and HTLV-III) were dropped in favor of the new term human immunodeficiency virus (virus de l'immunodéficience humaine, abbreviated HIV or VIH) (Coffin, 1986). They concluded that the origin of the HIV-1 Lai/IIIB isolate discovered by Robert Gallo was the same as that discovered by Montagnier (but not known by Montagnier to cause AIDS). The compromise allowed Montagnier and Gallo to end their feud and collaborate with each other again for a chronology that appeared in Nature that year.^[8]

The Chicago Tribune published an investigative report by reporter John Crewdson in 1990 which questioned whether Gallo's laboratory had taken the virus from Montagnier, which led to National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Congressional investigations that ultimately cleared Gallo's group from any wrongdoing.^[8] In 1994, when further investigations revealed that there was no evidence that Gallo had invented the AIDS test and that the Institut Pasteur had applied for a patent for its own test months before Gallo, the NIH agreed to award a greater share of the patent royalties to the Institut Pasteur.^[10]

In the 29 November 2002 issue of Science, Gallo and Montagnier published a series of articles, one of which was co-written by both scientists, in which they acknowledged the pivotal roles that each had played in the discovery of HIV.^[11]

Awards and honors

However, in 2008, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Montagnier for the discovery of HIV, while Robert Gallo was conspicuously omitted.^[12] Montagnier shared it with his colleague Francoise Barre-Sinoussi from the Institut Pasteur for their work on the discovery of HIV. Harald zur Hausen also shared the Prize for his discovery that human papilloma viruses led to cervical cancer, but Gallo was left out.^[8] Gallo said that it was "a disappointment" that he was not named a co-recipient.^[13] Montagnier said he was "surprised" Gallo was not recognized by the Nobel Committee: "It was important to prove that HIV was the cause of AIDS, and Gallo had a very important role in that. I'm very sorry for Robert Gallo."^[8] According to Maria Masucci, a member of the Nobel Assembly, “there was no doubt as to who made the fundamental discoveries.” ^[12]

Montagnier is the co-founder of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention and co-directs the Program for International Viral Collaboration. He is President of the Houston-based World Foundation for Medical Research and Prevention. He has received more than 20 major awards, including the Légion d'honneur (Commandeur in 1994; Grand Officier in 2009)^[14], the Lasker Award (1986), the Gairdner Award (1987), King Faisal Foundation International Prize (1993) (known as the Arab Nobel Prize), the Prince of Asturias Award (2000) and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2008). The latter was awarded to him for the discovery of HIV.

Electromagnetic signals from bacterial DNA

Montagnier has published research detecting electromagnetic signals (EMS) from bacterial DNA (M. pirum and E. coli) after serial agitated dilution in water, and has conducted as-yet unpublished research on detection of EMS in the plasma and in the DNA extracted from the plasma of patients with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.^[15]

Legal Battle

In 2009, Montagnier became involved in a legal battle with inventor Bruno Robert over the intellectual property rights to these techniques. Robert, who had previously researched "digital biology" with Jacques Benveniste, approached Montagnier in May 2005 regarding his work on EMS. In November 2005, Robert registered a patent for the process of homing in on a "biochemical element presenting a biological activity through the analysis of low-frequency electromagnetic signals." A month later, INPI, France's patents body, received a request for the same patent from Montagnier. Montagnier took Robert to court, claiming that he had intellectual property rights over this process. However, Robert's lawyer alleged that Montagnier had already admitted that he had not come up with the discovery, as he had signed a contract to use Robert's technique in 2005. In response, Montagnier's lawyer said the pair had only signed a "protocol agreement" which was not legally binding.^[16] In July 2009, the court ruled that Robert's 2005 patent application was 'fraudulent', because it had subtracted all of Montagnier's contribution, which the court estimated at 50%.^[17]

See also

• And the band played on
• And the band played on (film)
• Beyond Love, a novel by Dominique Lapierre, about the Robert Gallo and Montagnier legal battle and also about virology and sociology of HIV-AIDS
• HIV trial in Libya

References

1. ^ news.bbc.co.uk, Nobel prize for viral discoveries
2. ^ Barré-Sinoussi F, Chermann JC, Rey F, Nugeyre MT, Chamaret S, Gruest J, Dauguet C, Axler-Blin C, Vézinet-Brun F, Rouzioux C, Rozenbaum W, Montagnier L (1983). "Isolation of a T-lymphotropic retrovirus from a patient at risk for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)". Science 220 (4599): 868-871. PMID 6189183. 
3. ^ Popovic M, Sarngadharan MG, Read E, Gallo RC (1984). "Detection, isolation, and continuous production of cytopathic retroviruses (HTLV-III) from patients with AIDS and pre-AIDS". Science 224 (4648): 497-500. PMID 6200935. 
4. ^ Summary of fraud accusation
5. ^ Sheng-Yung P. Chang, Barbara H. Bowman, Judith B. Weiss, Rebeca E. Garcia & Thomas J. White (1993). "The origin of HIV-1 isolate HTLV-IIIB". Nature 363: 466–469. doi:10.1038/363466a0. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v363/n6428/abs/363466a0.html.  PMID 8502298 (Open access)
6. ^ http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/1006/1
7. ^ http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/193/4257/1007
8. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "HIV, HPV Researchers Honored, But One Scientist is Left Out". 322. Science. October 2008. pp. 149-328. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Hilts, Philip (1993-11-13). "U.S. Drops Misconduct Case Against an AIDS Researcher". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9F0CEFDB1F3BF930A25752C1A965958260. 
10. ^ Crewdson, John (1995-01-01). "In Gallo Case, Truth Termed a Casualty". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-100608-hiv-discovery-nobel-prizeoct07,0,3935882,print.story. 
11. ^ Montagnier L. (2002) Historical essay. A History of HIV Discovery. Science 298(5599): 1727-8 (29 November). PMID 12459575 Gallo RC. (2002) Historical essay. The Early Years of HIV/AIDS. Science 298(5599): 1728-30 (29 November). PMID 12459576 Gallo RC & Montagnier L. (2002) Historical essay. Prospects for the Future. Science 298(5599): 1730-1 (29 November). PMID 12459577
12. ^ ^{a b} http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/health/07nobel.html?hp
13. ^ Altman, Lawrence (2008-10-06). "Three Europeans Win the 2008 Nobel for Medicine". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/health/07nobel.html. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
14. ^ "Décret du 31 décembre 2008 portant élévation et nomination aux dignités de grand'croix et de grand officier". JORF 2009 (1): 14. 2009-01-01. PREX0828225D. http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=PREX0828225D. Retrieved 2009-03-10. 
15. ^ MONTAGNIER, L, AÄISSA, J et al. Electromagnetic Signals Are Produced by Aqueous Nanostructures Derived from Bacterial DNA Sequences. Interdiscip Sci Comput Life Sci (2009) DOI: 10.1007/s12539-009-0036-7 [1] Accessed 1 Sep 2009
16. ^ Samuel, Henry (08 Mar 2009). telegraph.co.uk. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/4959505/Man-who-co-discovered-HIV-accused-of-stealing-rights-to-Aids-cure.html. Retrieved 2009-08-04. 
17. ^ http://www.lematin.ch/flash-info/luc-montagnier-gagne-proces-paternite-brevets-contre-bruno-robert

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Luc Montagnier

External links

• The discovery of the AIDS virus in 1983. Official position of the Pasteur Institute.
• Montagnier Nobel Prize lecture
• PROFILE: Luc Montagnier, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi - AIDS pioneers
• Friends Fight AIDS Official website of the World Foundation for Medical Research and Prevention
• Professor Luc Montagnier Official website of Professor Luc Montagnier

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Persondata
NAME	Montagnier, Luc
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Joint recipient, 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
DATE OF BIRTH	18 August 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH	Chabris, France
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

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