French virologist Luc Montagnier, who won the Nobel Prize for his role in discovering the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, died at the age of 89 on Thursday (10/2) local time.
Montagnier and his colleague and friend French scientist Francoise Barre-Sinoussie, shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their role in discovering the HIV virus.
In the years before the onset of the AIDS epidemic, Montagnier had made significant discoveries about the nature of viruses and contributed to the understanding of how viruses can alter the genetic information of host organisms.
His investigations into interferon, one of the body's defenses against viruses, also paved the way for medical treatments for viral diseases. He later became Director of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention in Paris.
But in the years that followed, he was sidelined by the scientific community for adopting a stance that some have viewed as odd, particularly toward vaccines.
This was emphasized when the man, who earned a PhD in virology at Paris University, sparked controversy in 2020 by saying that he believed the Corona virus was created in a laboratory in China.
"News of Montagnier's death had circulated in various online media for the previous 24 hours, but major media outlets such as the AFP did not immediately receive confirmation. The lack of information surrounding such a famous figure appears to be a reflection of Montagnier's recent position in the scientific community," the report reads. New York Post.
However, Montagnier's role in the world of science and medicine cannot be ruled out. A spokesman for the anti-AIDS association Aides said in a statement that they praised Montagnier's great role in the co-discovery of HIV.
"This was a fundamental step forward, but sadly followed by several years in which he drifted away from science, a fact we cannot hide," he said.
Montagnier made key HIV discoveries in the early 1980s when AIDS cases began to surge and people infected had little chance of survival.
His findings laid the groundwork for an AIDS treatment, launched 15 years later, that allows patients to live nearly normal lives despite their illness.