{"id":127,"date":"2011-03-20T20:00:26","date_gmt":"2011-03-21T01:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.1.3\/wordpress\/?p=127"},"modified":"2016-04-29T13:17:05","modified_gmt":"2016-04-29T18:17:05","slug":"brave-genius-a-scientists-journey-from-the-french-resistance-to-the-nobel-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onyxstudio.us\/psw\/brave-genius-a-scientists-journey-from-the-french-resistance-to-the-nobel-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"Brave Genius &#8211; A Scientist\u2019s Journey from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"su-youtube su-responsive-media-yes\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cch8RGoa-eQ?autohide=2&autoplay=0&mute=0&controls=1&fs=1&loop=0&modestbranding=0&playlist=&rel=0&showinfo=1&theme=light&wmode=&playsinline=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h3>Abstract:<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.philsoc.org\/2015Spring\/2344_Sean_Carrroll_lecture2.png\" alt=\"\" \/>This lecture will chronicle the adventures of Jacques Monod, a co-founder of molecular biology, from the dark years of the German occupation of Paris to the heights of the Nobel Prize, his friendship with the great writer Albert Camus, and his emergence as a public figure and leading voice of science.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.philsoc.org\/2015Spring\/2344_Sean_Carrroll_lecturea.png\" alt=\"\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.philsoc.org\/2015Spring\/2344_Sean_Carrroll_lecture.png\" alt=\"\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.philsoc.org\/2015Spring\/2344_Sean_Carrroll_lectureb.png\" alt=\"\" \/>One of the key ideas that Monod championed was the role of chance in the course of life on Earth. \u00a0Although still not widely appreciated &#8211; four decades later &#8211; we now know much more than Monod might have imagined about the ubiquitous role of chance in evolution, from the molecular scale to the planetary.<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>Biographical Sketch:<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.philsoc.org\/2015Spring\/2344_Sean_Carrroll.png\" alt=\"\" \/>SEAN CARROLL is Wilson Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Wisconsin and Vice President for Science Education of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), where he is also the architect of HHMI&#8217;s science filmmaking initiative.<\/p>\n<p>His research has centered on the genes that control animal body patterns and play major roles in the evolution of animal diversity. His work has revealed that changes in how these genes are regulated, rather than in the genes themselves, are responsible for much of the physical diversity in the animal kingdom.<\/p>\n<p>Sean earned his BS from Washington University in St. Louis and his PhD from Tufts University. He is an author of more than 125 scientific publications. He is also the author of several books for wider audiences, including <em>Brave Genius: A Scientist, A Philosopher and their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize<\/em>; <em>Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species<\/em>; <em>The Making of the Fittest<\/em>; <em>and Endless Forms Most Beautiful<\/em>. He wrote the column \u201cRemarkable Creatures\u201d that appeared regularly in the <em>New York Times Science Times<\/em>. He has appeared frequently on radio and television to discuss science, and has appeared in and served executive producer for over a dozen science films. He also was scientific consulting producer for a two hour NOVA special, based on two of his books, celebrating the 150th anniversary of <em>On the Origin of Species<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Sean works tirelessly for science education and for bringing science to life for the public, especially the young.<\/p>\n<div class=\"su-spoiler su-spoiler-style-fancy su-spoiler-icon-plus su-spoiler-closed\"><div class=\"su-spoiler-title\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\"><span class=\"su-spoiler-icon\"><\/span>Minutes of the 2343rd Meeting<\/div><div class=\"su-spoiler-content su-clearfix\">\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\">Minutes of the 2344<sup>th<\/sup> Meeting<\/h2>\n<p>President Larry Millstein called the 2344th meeting of the Society to order on March 20, 2015 at 8:01 pm.\u00a0 He announced the order of business and welcomed new members to the Society. \u00a0The President presented a summery of the 19th meeting of the Society held on January 27, 1872.\u00a0 President Millstein then introduced the speaker for the evening, Sean Carroll of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the University of Wisconsin.\u00a0 His lecture was entitled \u201cBrave Genius:\u00a0 A Scientist\u2019s Journey from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dashed\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:3px;border-color:#999999\"><\/div>\n<p>Dr. Carroll began his lecture by introducing the Nobel Laureate, Jacques Monod , who believed that science changes how we see our place in the universe. \u00a0The first such scientific idea was Darwin\u2019s theory of evolution, with the implication that species are not created by divine processes. \u00a0The second such idea was the role of chance in biology.\u00a0 This was Monod\u2019s \u00a0scientific contribution.<\/p>\n<p>Chance also epitomized Monod\u2019s \u00a0own biography. \u00a0Monod \u00a0initially struggled to find his scientific direction, but in 1936 he worked with Morgan\u2019s \u201c<em>Drosophilia<\/em>\u201d group at CalTech.\u00a0 That was the spark which kindled his interest in genetics.<\/p>\n<p>By the fall of 1939, Monod \u00a0had returned to Paris where he was working on his doctorate. \u00a0He had married and become a father of twins. \u00a0He joined the French army\u2019s communication corps and was stationed in Versailles. \u00a0On May 10, 1940, Germany invaded France. Monod\u2019s \u00a0family was unable to escape, and the occupation brought many hardships.\u00a0 A complicating factor for the family was that his wife Odette was Jewish.\u00a0 Under the anti-Jewish laws of occupied Paris, Monod \u00a0had to register as the husband of a Jew.<\/p>\n<p>During this period, Monod\u2019s \u00a0scientific work continued.\u00a0 He noticed that the exponential growth curve of bacteria populations in some types of sugar mixes would show a small hump in the curve.\u00a0 Monod \u00a0called this diauxic growth.\u00a0 This work would lead to Monod\u2019s \u00a0Nobel prize 35 years later.<\/p>\n<p>But that work came very close to never happening.\u00a0 Monod \u00a0was implicated in a scheme to distribute an anti-Nazi newsletter for a friend.\u00a0 By a stroke of luck (or chance!), however, no copies of the newsletter had yet reached him for distribution.\u00a0 Monod\u2019s \u00a0friend was prosecuted and executed in February 1942. \u00a0The Nazi restrictions on Jews continued, culminating in the infamous yellow stars and deportations. \u00a0Odette and the twins fled to Vichy France, with a forged identity for Odette.<\/p>\n<p>In 1943 Monod \u00a0joined the communist-led resistance group FTP. \u00a0He volunteered for a dangerous mission to sneak into Switzerland to convince the Allies\u2019 representatives to equip the resistance. \u00a0Monod\u2019s \u00a0student Genevi\u00e8ve Noufflard became Monod \u00a0liaison agent.\u00a0 This was a very risky job, with dozens of daily clandestine meetings around Paris, gathering intelligence and passing orders. \u00a0Monod \u00a0himself led a double life: \u00a0lab researcher and resistance officer. \u00a0By 1944, he was an operations branch commandant with country-wide responsibilities. \u00a0Dr. Carroll showed some of the orders, directives, and plans by Monod , who used the <em>nom de guerre<\/em> \u201cMalivert.\u201d \u00a0Later, he helped direct the fight on the barricades during the liberation of Paris.<\/p>\n<p>After the liberation, Monod \u00a0was browsing in an American bookmobile.\u00a0 There, by chance, he found an issue of<em>Genetics<\/em> with an article on the spontaneous appearance of bacterial mutations.<\/p>\n<p>After the war, with Alice Audureau, he demonstrated that <em>E. coli<\/em> strains which could <em><u>not<\/u><\/em> metabolize lactose could, by mutation, give rise to strains which could metabolize lactose.\u00a0 Thus, he showed the genetic origins of lactose metabolism. \u00a0In 1945 Monod \u00a0joined the Pasteur Institute.<\/p>\n<p>In 1948, horrified about Lysenko\u2019s proposed &#8220;reforms&#8221; to Soviet biology, Monod \u00a0wrote in the newspaper <em>Combat<\/em>against Lysenkoism. \u00a0This was outside of the Communist party line, and cost Monod \u00a0the friendship of Sartre and others, but made Monod \u00a0new friends.\u00a0 The most significant was Albert Camus, who was aligned with the French left, but was adamantly against Stalin. \u00a0In his writings, Camus criticized Stalinism and Lysenkoism, taking fragments from Monod\u2019s \u00a0writings on biology. \u00a0This contempt for Stalinism was justified in 1956, with the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian uprising.\u00a0 In 1958 Monod \u00a0met Hungarian biochemist and revolutionist Agnes Ullmann, who had sought him out because of the <em>Combat<\/em> article. \u00a0As Monod \u00a0was doing his Nobel-prize winning work, he also smuggled her and her husband out of Hungary using resistance techniques.<\/p>\n<p>Monod \u00a0also met Fran\u00e7ois Jacob at the Pasteur Institute. \u00a0Studying the diauxic curve, they found that enzymes to metabolize certain sugars were induced in the sugar\u2019s presence.\u00a0 They worked out the mechanism of a \u201cgenetic switch\u201d for enzyme production, which won them the Nobel Prize in 1965. \u00a0His war background made Monod \u00a0very popular as a go-to person on scientific issues. \u00a0When Camus died in 1960, Monod \u00a0took his position in French intellectual life. \u00a0For instance, he introduced Martin Luther King in Paris, and later gave Dr. King\u2019s eulogy. \u00a0During the 1968 unrest, Monod \u00a0was the go-between for the students and the government. He refused the suggestion that he run for president, but he campaigned for several issues, including a higher public role for science. \u00a0He wrote his famous book <em>Chance and Necessity <\/em>for this effort. \u00a0This work emphasized the role of random mutations in the development of life and diversity, and the philosophical implications against anthropocentrism.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Carroll pointed out that we now know many things that Monod \u00a0did not.\u00a0 For instance, we know about the meteor strike that opened the way to mammalian evolution and changed the course of life on Earth. The role of chance has now been well-established, from the molecular to the planetary scale.\u00a0 The challenge is how we deal with it.<\/p>\n<p>In 1971 Monod \u00a0became the director of the Pasteur Institute. \u00a0In 1976, his health failing, he answered a letter from a young boy who wanted to know about Monod\u2019s \u00a0guiding principles.\u00a0 His answer was \u201ccourage, moral as much as physical, and a love of truth, or rather, a hatred of lies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Carroll concluded his lecture by thanking those who had provided letters and other documents to him to complete his work.<\/p>\n<div class=\"su-divider su-divider-style-dashed\" style=\"margin:15px 0;border-width:3px;border-color:#999999\"><\/div>\n<p>After the question and answer period, President Millstein thanked the speaker, made the usual housekeeping announcements, and invited guests to join the Society. \u00a0At 10:01 p.m., President Millstein adjourned the 2341st meeting of the Society to the social hour.<\/p>\n<table class=\"mtgstats\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"131\">Attendance:<\/td>\n<td width=\"173\">70<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>The weather:<\/td>\n<td>Overcast<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>The temperature:<\/td>\n<td>2\u00b0C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Respectfully submitted,<br \/>\nZeynep Dilli<br \/>\nExternal Communications Director &amp; Recording Secretary<br \/>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abstract: This lecture will chronicle the adventures of Jacques Monod, a co-founder of molecular biology, from the dark years of the German occupation of Paris to the heights of the Nobel Prize, his friendship with the great writer Albert Camus, and his emergence as a public figure and leading voice of science. &nbsp; One of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,2,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biology","category-featured","category-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onyxstudio.us\/psw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onyxstudio.us\/psw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onyxstudio.us\/psw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onyxstudio.us\/psw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onyxstudio.us\/psw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onyxstudio.us\/psw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":659,"href":"https:\/\/onyxstudio.us\/psw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions\/659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onyxstudio.us\/psw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onyxstudio.us\/psw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onyxstudio.us\/psw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onyxstudio.us\/psw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}