For the 2019 publication of his essay “Dépolluer la planète” Jean Weissenbach looks back at his research career with its numerous discoveries & accomplishments, including a number of Genopole’s most illustrious revelations, some of which were world’s-firsts.
To name just a few:
- The 1992 publication of the world’s first high-resolution human genetic map by Genethon with the financial support of AFM-Téléthon.
- From that map, the identification of hundreds of genes associated with genetic diseases.
- The creation of the national sequencing center Genoscope in 1997.
- The establishment of the first complete sequence of chromosome 14 in 2003 for the unprecedented international Human Genome Project.
- The study of environmental microorganism biodiversity starting in the 2000s.
Particularly, Genoscope shed light on the plethora of bacterial genomes providing functions potentially useful for humans, explored unknown ecosystems and opened new vistas for bioremediation.
* “Dépolluer la planète“, by Jean Weissenbach, CNRS Éditions, collection “De vive voix”, November 2019.
