Death of Jean-Louis Guénet

It is with deep sadness that the Institut Pasteur management team learned of the death of Jean-Louis Guénet, Distinguished Head of Department at the Institut Pasteur and Head of the Mammalian Genetics Unit from 1981 to 2004.

Jean-Louis Guénet was born on October 9, 1938 in Sucy-en-Brie, in the Val-de-Marne département. He completed a PhD in veterinary science at the Alfort National Veterinary School in 1964 and obtained certificates in biochemistry, physiology, genetics, radiation protection, general chemistry and statistics from the Paris Faculty of Science in 1967.

He worked for six years as an engineer at the French Atomic Energy Commission in Saclay, then at the Health Protection Center in Fontenay-aux-Roses, where he focused on radiosensitivity in animals (rats and pigs) and obtaining germ-free animals (rats and hamsters). In 1970, he was recruited as a research associate at the Institut Pasteur to spearhead a research program on developmental biology in mammals, established by François Jacob. He was subsequently appointed as Head of Laboratory (1974-1983), Head of Department (1984-1999) and Distinguished Head of Department (2000-2005).

At the request of François Jacob, who had realized how important mice would be for embryonic development research, Jean-Louis Guénet established a modern central animal facility at the Institut Pasteur, a vital resource for the development of research in biology and infectious diseases that positioned the Institut Pasteur as one of Europe's leading research centers. In 1981, with Charles Babinet, Jean-Louis Guénet founded the Mammalian Genetics Unit, which he led until 2004. With his team, he made a major contribution to the development of mouse genetics at the Institut Pasteur and at international level. His research focused on producing a detailed map of the mouse genome and producing and characterizing multiple mutations of interest for human diseases. In particular, he identified the gene involved in osteogenesis imperfecta and susceptibility to West Nile virus infection. He has authored more than 200 scientific publications.

Jean-Louis Guénet also served as Head of Scientific Staff at the Institut Pasteur from 1994 to 2000. He was appointed Chevalier of the National Order of Merit in 1987 and in 2003 he received the Mühlbock Award, the most prestigious honor conferred by the International Council for Laboratory Animal Science. He was a member of the French Veterinary Academy.

Jean-Louis Guénet took retirement in January 2005.

His colleagues and friends describe him as an innovative, visionary scientist who demonstrated what veterinarians can bring to biomedical science. He was also a man of culture who tirelessly encouraged young scientists in their careers. He was always enthusiastic and interested in the science of others. He was a loyal member of the Institut Pasteur and a scientist who was devoted to the community.

Jean-Louis Guénet died on August 1, 2024 at the age of 85.

The Institut Pasteur management team and staff would like to express their heartfelt condolences to his family.
 

A few words and thoughts
 

"I got to know Jean-Louis when he was recruited by François Jacob. His work at the Institut Pasteur was fantastic. It was he who got the ball rolling for the establishment of a modern animal facility, which he then managed in a remarkably efficient way. His research into animal genetics was outstanding. Then, when he joined me on the Board of Governors to oversee the careers of scientific staff, he showed himself to be competent and efficient, and was very much appreciated by his colleagues.

I was deeply saddened to learn of his death. For me he was a friend who demonstrated unwavering loyalty to me before, during and after my term as President. He was a kind man, but he was capable of taking a firm line if necessary in his various professional roles. He was a committed Pasteurian, and I know that he will be sadly missed by all his colleagues."

Maxime Schwartz, visiting scientist at the Institut Pasteur and
advisor to the Institut Pasteur management team,
former President of the Institut Pasteur (1988-1999)

 

"Jean-Louis was a passionate and visionary mouse geneticist. The ideas that he put into practice at the small scale of his laboratory were subsequently taken up by other much larger teams. He was the driving force behind major projects, especially for the development of mouse genetic maps.

Above all he was a generous man, keen to share his knowledge with young scientists, to establish links between genetic diseases in mice and humans, and to build interdisciplinary networks.

He was deeply attached to the Institut Pasteur and always served it with energy and loyalty. Jean-Louis was a humble, approachable man, with an endless thirst for human contact. He was a remarkable mentor, giving the best of himself to his students, all of whom look back with great fondness on their time in his laboratory. "

Xavier Montagutelli, Head of the Mouse Genetics Laboratory
 

"In the early 1970s, François Jacob tasked Jean-Louis Guénet with establishing a modern central animal facility on campus, mainly for mice. Jean-Louis led the facility with great rigor, while also demonstrating kindness to those who followed the rules and came to him for advice. As well as these responsibilities as a veterinarian, Jean-Louis led the Mammalian Genetics Unit with Charles Babinet. He had understood that when mapping genes, it was important to use wild mice such as M. spretus, which were more genetically varied and facilitated the identification of restriction fragment length polymorphisms in DNA sequences in crosses with M. musculus domesticus. Using this innovative approach, in collaboration with him, we were able to locate the myosin and actin genes on the mouse genetic map, with distribution modes linked to their expression during development (Robert et al. (1985) Nature; Weydert et al. (1985) PNAS). I very much appreciated Jean-Louis, both as an excellent geneticist and as a person of great integrity, who always remained true to himself."

Margaret Buckingham, Honorary Professor of the Institut Pasteur and
Chair of the Institut Pasteur Ethics Committee, Honorary Director
of the Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology
 

"As a young PhD student, I really got to know Jean-Louis when it became possible to apply molecular markers to mouse genetic mapping – cDNA or gene fragments, which had become increasingly widely used in human genetics. Jean-Louis had just received the first mice in the species Mus spretus from François Bonhomme in Montpellier, and it turned out that they could be cross-bred with laboratory mice, providing a rich source of polymorphism for the mouse genome. So he reacted to the research proposal that I submitted to him with an almost childlike enthusiasm, which he always displayed when he felt that new scientific prospects were opening up in his field, and he immediately set to work crossing the mice as needed. The first marker that we analyzed was on chromosome 1. We were so excited when we observed that it cosegregated perfectly with a gene from the myogenic program for which we had isolated the cDNA!

I then worked with Jean-Louis in several of his other roles: as head of the animal facility, when I developed my own breeding colonies; as head of unit, when the laboratory I was leading came under his responsibility; and as Head of Scientific Staff, when he accepted this position. In all these roles, I appreciated his qualities and his blend of affability and integrity. But they could not recapture the depth and breadth of our work together on scientific projects. For me, Jean-Louis was a great geneticist, who explored a great number of facets of the discipline. You only had to see him among his peers at international conferences, or in his laboratory when he hosted fellow scientists, to understand just how much he was appreciated. His various roles serving the Institut Pasteur, which he carried out so impeccably, somewhat concealed his scientific achievements."

Benoît Robert, visiting scientist at the Institut Pasteur,
member of the Scientific Integrity and Conciliation Committee,
chair of the Committee for Ethics in Animal Experimentation