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)
Heredity is the transmission of a message from one generation to the next.
The secret of life is not to be found in the simplicity of its components, but in the complexity of their interactions.
Science is not a collection of truths. It is a continuing exploration of mysteries.
The aim of science is not to open the door to infinite wisdom, but to set a limit to infinite error.
The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced.
Creation and discovery are not opposed; they are two sides of the same coin.
The world is not given to us; we make it.
The future is not written. It is built.
The only way to understand a complex system is to take it apart and see how it works.
The history of biology is the history of the discovery of constraints.
Natural selection operates not by creating novelties from scratch, but by choosing among what is already there.
The organism is not a mere sum of its parts; it is an integrated whole.
The gene is not a unitary thing; it is a complex of interacting elements.
The regulatory circuit is the basic unit of genetic function.
The beauty of the living world lies in its diversity and its unity.
To do research is to venture into the unknown.
The scientist is an explorer of the possible.
The joy of discovery is the greatest reward of science.
The scientific method is not a recipe; it is an attitude.
Doubt is the engine of science.
Contemporaries of François Jacob
Other Biologys born within 50 years of François Jacob (1920–2013).