Jean Brachet FRS | |
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| Born | Jean Brachet 19 March 1909 Etterbeek, Belgium |
| Died | 10 August 1988 at 79 years |
| Education | L'École alsacienne, Paris |
| Alma mater | Université libre de Bruxelles |
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Jean Louis Auguste Brachet (19 March 1909 – 10 August 1988) was aBelgian biochemist who made a key contribution in understanding the role ofRNA.
Brachet was born inEtterbeek nearBrussels inBelgium, the son ofAlbert Brachet, an eminent embryologist.[1]
He was educated at L'École alsacienne inParis and theRoyal Athenaeum of Ixelles in Brussels [fr]. He studied medicine at theUniversité libre de Bruxelles ('Free University of Brussels', the institution operating between 1834 and 1969), graduating in 1934. He then worked at theUniversity of Cambridge and atPrinceton University and at several institutes of marine biological research.[1]
Brachet was appointed Professor of Animal Morphology and General Biology at theUniversité libre de Bruxelles and Research Director of the International Laboratory for Genetics and Biophysics inNaples.[2]
In 1933 Brachet was able to show thatDNA was found inchromosomes and that RNA was present in thecytoplasm of all cells.
At the same time asTorbjörn Caspersson he independently showed that RNA plays an active role in protein synthesis. Brachet also carried out pioneering work in the field ofcell differentiation. Brachet demonstrated that differentiation is preceded by the formation of newribosomes and accompanied by the release from the nucleus of a wave of newmessenger RNA.[3]
In 1934 he married Françoise de Baray. In 2004, his daughter Lise Brachet published a biography of her father.[4]
In 1948 Jean Brachet was awarded theFrancqui Prize for Biological and Medical Sciences and in 1953 he received theAlbert Brachet Prize [fr] from theRoyal Academy of Belgium for the best original work in embryology, an award instituted in honour of his father. He was elected afellow of the Royal Society in 1966.[1]
