François Jacob
A molecular biologist who, with Jacques Monod, discovered the operon model of gene regulation, explaining how genes are turned on and off.
Most quoted
"A theory is a good theory if it satisfies two requirements: It must accurately describe a large class of observations on the basis of a model that contains only a few arbitrary elements, and it must make definite predictions about the results of future observations."
— from Attributed
"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like."
— from The Logic of Life: A History of Heredity
"The dream of the biologist is to understand the living world, to grasp its essence, to unravel its secrets. But the living world is not a simple mechanism; it is a history."
— from La logique du vivant, une histoire de l'hérédité, 1970
All quotes by François Jacob (362)
The living world is a world of constraints.
The scientist is an artist.
The brain is a society of neurons.
The living world is a world of possibilities.
The cell is a miniature universe.
The gene is a unit of information.
The living world is a world of interactions.
The scientist is a detective.
The brain is a dynamic system.
The gene is a historical record.
The living world is a world of diversity.
The scientist is a philosopher.
The brain is a complex adaptive system.
The living world is a world of beauty.
The gene is a blueprint for life.
The living world is a world of wonder.
It is natural selection that gives direction to the changes, orients chance, and slowly, progressively produces more complex structures, new organs, and new species.
The process of evolution is essentially a matter of the reproduction of the fittest.
The logic of biology is not that of a blueprint, but that of a recipe.
The cell is a machine, a chemical machine.
Contemporaries of François Jacob
Other Biologys born within 50 years of François Jacob (1920–2013).