The Prague Post - France's Nobel winner for co-discovery of HIV virus dies

EUR -
AED 4.252362
AFN 81.604267
ALL 99.334864
AMD 444.290367
ANG 2.071899
AOA 1060.480017
ARS 1368.666742
AUD 1.770716
AWG 2.086808
AZN 1.965862
BAM 1.9552
BBD 2.336462
BDT 141.531436
BGN 1.955255
BHD 0.436697
BIF 3406.040334
BMD 1.15773
BND 1.481558
BOB 8.013609
BRL 6.367747
BSD 1.157135
BTN 99.516306
BWP 15.45039
BYN 3.787005
BYR 22691.499169
BZD 2.324406
CAD 1.569754
CDF 3330.787683
CHF 0.940372
CLF 0.028267
CLP 1084.734995
CNY 8.314353
CNH 8.314657
COP 4762.748862
CRC 583.31587
CUC 1.15773
CUP 30.679833
CVE 110.997331
CZK 24.812422
DJF 205.752005
DKK 7.458279
DOP 68.653101
DZD 150.265174
EGP 58.184706
ERN 17.365943
ETB 155.601893
FJD 2.591809
FKP 0.852417
GBP 0.851579
GEL 3.172027
GGP 0.852417
GHS 11.928201
GIP 0.852417
GMD 81.612492
GNF 10020.148824
GTQ 8.893193
GYD 242.097761
HKD 9.087882
HNL 30.224487
HRK 7.533924
HTG 151.432199
HUF 402.295953
IDR 18846.737222
ILS 4.03621
IMP 0.852417
INR 99.55959
IQD 1516.62571
IRR 48740.414353
ISK 144.079324
JEP 0.852417
JMD 184.698079
JOD 0.820796
JPY 167.185405
KES 149.925568
KGS 101.243114
KHR 4659.86157
KMF 493.770391
KPW 1041.956594
KRW 1572.596111
KWD 0.354219
KYD 0.964312
KZT 593.412683
LAK 25082.211213
LBP 103732.567794
LKR 348.420017
LRD 231.085044
LSL 20.769383
LTL 3.418474
LVL 0.700299
LYD 6.303895
MAD 10.557912
MDL 19.788096
MGA 5157.685189
MKD 61.528864
MMK 2431.125298
MNT 4146.11653
MOP 9.356508
MRU 45.869709
MUR 52.537163
MVR 17.834785
MWK 2009.818622
MXN 21.906442
MYR 4.915727
MZN 74.037202
NAD 20.769178
NGN 1785.114719
NIO 42.020603
NOK 11.46319
NPR 159.226489
NZD 1.906746
OMR 0.445151
PAB 1.157155
PEN 4.189278
PGK 4.790687
PHP 65.280316
PKR 327.579346
PLN 4.273238
PYG 9231.086102
QAR 4.214832
RON 5.022116
RSD 117.225861
RUB 91.027671
RWF 1649.764608
SAR 4.343642
SBD 9.664021
SCR 16.459837
SDG 695.225298
SEK 10.960687
SGD 1.481477
SHP 0.909794
SLE 25.528066
SLL 24277.014029
SOS 661.656537
SRD 44.851547
STD 23962.664227
SVC 10.125241
SYP 15052.688229
SZL 20.770366
THB 37.537104
TJS 11.722554
TMT 4.052053
TND 3.385166
TOP 2.711521
TRY 45.570439
TTD 7.855656
TWD 34.075441
TZS 2986.284681
UAH 48.112191
UGX 4171.719183
USD 1.15773
UYU 47.317107
UZS 14804.467956
VES 118.281803
VND 30172.168652
VUV 137.888454
WST 3.032311
XAF 655.76133
XAG 0.031871
XAU 0.000341
XCD 3.128822
XDR 0.818816
XOF 657.007033
XPF 119.331742
YER 281.733209
ZAR 20.615225
ZMK 10420.900389
ZMW 28.061627
ZWL 372.788443
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

France's Nobel winner for co-discovery of HIV virus dies
France's Nobel winner for co-discovery of HIV virus dies

France's Nobel winner for co-discovery of HIV virus dies

French scientist Luc Montagnier, who won the Nobel prize for medicine for his co-discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS, has died aged 89, the mayor of the Paris suburb where he was hospitalised said Thursday.

Text size:

Montagnier died on Tuesday in the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine northwest of the centre of Paris, its mayor Jean-Christophe Fromantin told AFP. Fromantin said he was in possession of the death certificate.

Montagnier shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with his colleague Francoise Barre-Sinoussi for their "discovery of human immunodeficiency virus" (HIV), which causes AIDS.

But he was sidelined by the scientific community in later years as he took up positions judged to be increasingly outlandish, notably against vaccines.

His pariah status only increased during the Covid-19 pandemic when he claimed the virus was laboratory-made and that vaccines were responsible for the appearance of variants.

Reports of Montagnier's death had been circulating online over the previous 24 hours, but AFP was not immediately able to get them confirmed as his family did not speak to major news organisations, while the main research bodies he belonged to said they were unable to confirm his death.

This unusual lack of information surrounding such a well-known figure appeared to be a reflection of Montagnier's recent standing in the scientific community.

A former star among French researchers, he had lost their support over the past decade over positions they felt they could not share.

- 'Decisive role' -

"Today we praise the decisive role of Luc Montagnier in the joint discovery of HIV," said the anti-AIDS association Aides.

"This was a fundamental step forward, but one which was sadly followed by several years during which he drifted away from science, a fact we cannot conceal," it said.

Montagnier made his key HIV discovery in the early 1980s when AIDS cases began to soar and infected people had little chance of survival.

His findings laid the groundwork for AIDS treatments, launched 15 years later, that would allow patients to live near-normal lives despite the illness.

The discovery was followed by a long dispute between Montagnier and the team of US researcher Robert Gallo over whose role had been more important. Eventually they agreed that the Frenchman had isolated the virus, while the American had established its direct link to AIDS.

Further controversies followed when Montagnier began to defend theories that were discredited in the scientific community, such as the "water memory" theory which plays a role in homeopathic treatments.

His positions against Covid vaccinations, while raising his public profile during the pandemic, also found very little backing among scientists.

Initial tributes came from marginal political and scientific figures with anti-vaccination positions.

They included far-right politician Florian Philippot who launched weekly anti-vax protests across France.

"He was dragged through the mud although he was right about Covid," Philippot said about Montagnier on Twitter.

Prominent virologist Didier Raoult, himself sidelined among researchers for his views on Covid treatments, praised Montagnier's "originality" and "independence".

The only immediate reaction from President Emmanuel Macron's government came from research minister Frederique Vidal, who said that she felt "emotional" and offered her condolences to Montaigne's family, but made no mention of his recent scientific positions.

burs/jh/pvh

A.Novak--TPP