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The Pasteur Institute is a French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology
Biology

Biology is a branch of the natural sciences concerned with the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment ....
, micro-organisms, disease
Disease

A disease or medical condition is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and Medical signs....
s and vaccine
Vaccine

A vaccine is a biological preparation that establishes or improves immunity to a particular disease.Vaccines can be prophylaxis , or Medication ....
s. It is named after Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur was a France chemist and microbiologist best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of disease. His experiments supported the germ theory of disease, also reducing mortality from puerperal fever , and he created the first vaccine for rabies....
, its founder and first director, who had successfully developed the first antirabies serum in 1885. It was founded on June 4, 1887 and inaugurated on November 14, 1888.

For over a century, the Institut Pasteur has been at the forefront of the battle against infectious disease
Infectious disease

An infectious disease is a clinically evident disease resulting from the presence of pathogenic microbial agents, including pathogenic viruses, pathogenic bacteria, Mycosis, protozoa, multicellular parasites, and aberrant proteins known as prions....
.






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The Pasteur Institute is a French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology
Biology

Biology is a branch of the natural sciences concerned with the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment ....
, micro-organisms, disease
Disease

A disease or medical condition is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and Medical signs....
s and vaccine
Vaccine

A vaccine is a biological preparation that establishes or improves immunity to a particular disease.Vaccines can be prophylaxis , or Medication ....
s. It is named after Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur was a France chemist and microbiologist best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of disease. His experiments supported the germ theory of disease, also reducing mortality from puerperal fever , and he created the first vaccine for rabies....
, its founder and first director, who had successfully developed the first antirabies serum in 1885. It was founded on June 4, 1887 and inaugurated on November 14, 1888.

For over a century, the Institut Pasteur has been at the forefront of the battle against infectious disease
Infectious disease

An infectious disease is a clinically evident disease resulting from the presence of pathogenic microbial agents, including pathogenic viruses, pathogenic bacteria, Mycosis, protozoa, multicellular parasites, and aberrant proteins known as prions....
. This worldwide biomedical research organization based in Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
 was the first to isolate HIV
HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that can lead to AIDS , a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections....
, the virus that causes AIDS
AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the HIV ....
, in 1983. Over the years, it has been responsible for breakthrough discoveries that have enabled medical science to control such virulent diseases as diphtheria
Diphtheria

Diphtheria is an upper Respiration tract illness characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity....
, tetanus
Tetanus

Tetanus, also called lockjaw, is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, Anaerobic organism Clostridium tetani....
, tuberculosis
Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacterium, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, the gastrointestinal system, bones, joints, and even the...
, poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis

Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute virus infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route....
, influenza
Influenza

Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease that affects birds and mammals caused by RNA viruses of the biological family Orthomyxoviridae ....
, yellow fever
Yellow fever

Yellow fever is an acute Virus disease. It is an important cause of hemorrhage illness in many African and South American countries despite existence of an effective vaccine....
 and plague. Since 1908, eight Pasteur Institute scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize , established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize in Literature, and Nobel Peace Prize in 1901....
 for medicine and physiology, and the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is going to be shared with two Pasteur scientists.

History

The Institut Pasteur was founded in 1887 by Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur was a France chemist and microbiologist best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of disease. His experiments supported the germ theory of disease, also reducing mortality from puerperal fever , and he created the first vaccine for rabies....
, the French scientist whose early experiments with fermentation
Fermentation (biochemistry)

Fermentation is the process of deriving energy from the Redox of organic compounds, such as carbohydrates, using an Endogeny electron acceptor, which is usually an organic compound....
 led to pioneering research in bacteriology. A giant in science
Science

In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
, Pasteur discovered the principle of sterilization
Sterilization (microbiology)

Sterilization refers to any process that effectively kills or eliminates transmissible agents from a surface, equipment, article of food or medication, or biological culture medium....
 which came to be known as "pasteurization
Pasteurization

Pasteurization is a process which slows microbial growth in foods. The process was named after its creator, France chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur....
." His discoveries led to the universal practice of surgical antisepsis. He also developed techniques of vaccination to control bacterial infection, as well as a successful vaccine to treat rabies
Rabies

Rabies is a virus zoonotic neurotropic virus disease that causes acute encephalitis in mammals. It is most commonly caused by a bite from an infected animal, but occasionally by other forms of contact....
.

Louis Pasteur was committed both to basic research and its practical applications. As soon as his institute was created, Pasteur brought together scientists with various specialties. The first five departments were directed by two normaliens (graduates of the Ecole Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure

The ?cole normale sup?rieure is a France Grandes ?coles . The ENS was initially conceived during the French Revolution, and intended to provide the First French Republic with a new body of teacher, trained in the critical spirit and secular values of the the Enlightenment....
): Emile Duclaux
Émile Duclaux

?mile Duclaux was a French biologist and chemist who was born in Aurillac. In 1862 he was an assistant in the laboratory of Louis Pasteur. Later he became a professor in Tours , Clermont-Ferrand , Lyon and Paris ....
 (general microbiology
Microbiology

Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are unicellular or cell-cluster microscopic organisms. This includes eukaryote such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes, which are bacteria and archaea....
 research) and Charles Chamberland
Charles Chamberland

Charles Chamberland was a French microbiologist from Chilly-le-Vignoble in the department of Jura who worked with Louis Pasteur. In 1884 he developed a type of filtration known today as the Chamberland filter or Chamberland-Pasteur filter, constituting of an unglazed porcelain bar....
 (microbe research applied to hygiene
Hygiene

Hygiene refers to practices associated with ensuring good health and cleanliness. Such practices vary widely and what is considered acceptable in one culture may be unacceptable in another....
), as well as a biologist
Biologist

A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life.Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment....
, Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov
Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov

Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov was a Russian microbiology best remembered for his pioneering research into the immune system. Mechnikov received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1908, for his work on phagocytosis....
 (morphological microbe research) and two physician
Physician

A physician, medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, or medical doctor practices medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and injury....
s, Jacques-Joseph Grancher
Jacques-Joseph Grancher

Jacques-Joseph Grancher was a French pediatrician who was born in Felletin. In 1865 he earned his medical degree, and afterwards was director of a pathology anatomy laboratory in Clamart ....
 (rabies
Rabies

Rabies is a virus zoonotic neurotropic virus disease that causes acute encephalitis in mammals. It is most commonly caused by a bite from an infected animal, but occasionally by other forms of contact....
) and Emile Roux (technical microbe research). One year after the inauguration of the Institut Pasteur, Roux set up the first course of microbiology ever taught in the world, then entitled Cours de Microbie Technique (Course of microbe research techniques).

Pasteur's successors have sustained this tradition, and it is reflected in the Institut Pasteur's unique history of accomplishment:

  • Emile Roux and Alexandre Yersin
    Alexandre Yersin

    Alexandre Emile Jean Yersin was a France physician and bacteriology. Along with Shibasaburo Kitasato he is remembered as the co-discoverer of the bacillus responsible for the bubonic plague or pest, which was re-named in his honour ....
     discovered the mechanism of action of Corynebacterium diphtheriae
    Corynebacterium diphtheriae

    Corynebacterium diphtheriae is a pathogenic bacterium that causes diphtheria. It is also known as the Klebs-L?ffler bacillus, because it was discovered in 1884 by Germany Bacteriology Edwin Klebs and Friedrich L?ffler ....
     and how to treat diphtheria with antitoxin
    Antitoxin

    An antitoxin is an antibody with the ability to neutralize a specific toxin. Antitoxins are produced by certain animals, plants, and bacterium. Although they are most effective in neutralizing toxins, they can kill bacteria and other microorganisms....
    s;
  • Alexandre Yersin
    Alexandre Yersin

    Alexandre Emile Jean Yersin was a France physician and bacteriology. Along with Shibasaburo Kitasato he is remembered as the co-discoverer of the bacillus responsible for the bubonic plague or pest, which was re-named in his honour ....
     discovered in 1894 the pathogen of bubonic plague
    Bubonic plague

    Plague is a deadly infectious disease caused by the Enterobacteriaceae Yersinia pestis . Plague is a zoonotic, primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas....
    , Yersinia pestis
    Yersinia pestis

    Yersinia pestis is a Gram-negative bacillus bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae. It is a facultative anaerobe that can infect humans and other animals....
    ;
  • Paul-Louis Simond
    Paul-Louis Simond

    Paul-Louis Simond was a French bacteriologist who was born in Beaufort-sur-Gervanne. He studied medicine in Bordeaux and later joined the Pasteur Institute in Paris....
     discovered in 1898 the role of the flea
    Flea

    Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects whose mouthparts are adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood....
     in the transmission of plague;
  • Albert Calmette
    Albert Calmette

    L?on Charles Albert Calmette was a French physician, bacteriology and immunology, and an important officer of the Pasteur Institute. He discovered the Bacillus Calmette-Gu?rin, an attenuated form of Mycobacterium used in the Bacillus Calmette-Gu?rin vaccine against tuberculosis....
     and Camille Guérin
    Camille Guérin

    Jean-Marie Camille Gu?rin Camille Gu?rin was born in Poitiers to a family of modest means. His father died of tuberculosis in 1882 . He studied veterinary medicine at the from 1892 to 1896, working, while a student, as an assistant to pathology Edmond Nocard ....
     discovered how to culture the tuberculosis
    Tuberculosis

    Tuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacterium, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, the gastrointestinal system, bones, joints, and even the...
     bacillus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis
    Mycobacterium tuberculosis

    Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a pathogenic bacterial species in the genus Mycobacterium and the causative agent of most cases of tuberculosis....
     (so called BCG or Bacillus Calmette-Guérin
    Bacillus Calmette-Guérin

    Bacillus Calmette-Gu?rin is a vaccination against tuberculosis that is prepared from a strain of the attenuated live bovine tuberculosis bacillus, Mycobacterium bovis, that has lost its virulence in humans by being specially cultured in an artificial medium for years....
    ) at Institut Pasteur de Lille
    Institut Pasteur de Lille

    The Institut Pasteur de Lille is a research centre, membre of the Pasteur Institute network.It includes 14 research units, 1150 employees including 626 researchers located in Lille ....
     and developed in 1921 the first effective antituberculosis vaccine;
  • Alphonse Laveran got the 1907 Nobel Prize for his research on the role of protozoans as disease agents (notably, his discovery of the malaria
    Malaria

    Malaria is a Vector -borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. It is widespread in Tropics and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa....
     hematozoon)
  • Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov
    Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov

    Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov was a Russian microbiology best remembered for his pioneering research into the immune system. Mechnikov received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1908, for his work on phagocytosis....
     received the Nobel Prize in 1908 for contributions to scientific understanding of the immune system
    Immune system

    An immune system is a collection of biological processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumour cells....
  • Constantin Levaditi
    Constantin Levaditi

    Constantin Levaditi was a Romanian physician and Microbiology, a major figure in virology and immunology ....
     and Karl Landsteiner
    Karl Landsteiner

    Karl Landsteiner , was an Austrian biologist and physician. He is noted for his development in 1901 of the modern system of classification of Blood type from his identification of the presence of agglutinins in the blood, and in 1930 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine....
     demonstrated in 1910 that poliomyelitis
    Poliomyelitis

    Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute virus infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route....
     is due to a filterable virus;
  • Félix d'Herelle
    Félix d'Herelle

    F?lix d'Herelle was a French-Canadian microbiology, the co-discoverer of bacteriophages and experimented with the possibility of phage therapy....
     discovered in 1917 the bacteriophage
    Bacteriophage

    A bacteriophage is any one of a number of viruses that infection bacteria. The term is commonly used in its shortened form, phage.Typically, bacteriophages consist of an outer protein hull enclosing genetic material....
    , a virus that spread only inside bacteria;
  • Jules Bordet
    Jules Bordet

    File:Jules Bordet pi.pngJules Jean Baptiste Vincent Bordet was a Belgium immunologist and microbiologist. The Genus Bordetella is named for him....
     received the Nobel prize in 1919 for his discoveries on immunity
    Immunity (medical)

    Immunity is a medical term that describes a state of having sufficient biological defenses to avoid infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion....
    , especially the implication of antibodies and the mechanisms of action of the complement;
  • Charles Nicolle
    Charles Nicolle

    Charles Jules Henry Nicolle was a French bacteriologist who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his identification of lice as the transmitter of epidemic typhus....
     received the Nobel prize in 1928 for unraveling the mystery of how typhus
    Typhus

    Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters. The causative organism is Rickettsia prowazekii, transmitted by the human body louse ....
     is transmitted, especially the role of the louse
    Louse

    Lice , , also known as fly babies, are an order of over 3,000 species of wingless insects; three of which are classified as human disease agents....
    ;
  • Jean Laigret
    Jean Laigret

    Jean Laigret was a French biologist who was born in Blois. For much of his career he was associated with the Pasteur Institute in Brazzaville , Saigon , Dakar , Bamako and Tunis , ....
     developed in 1932 the first vaccine for yellow fever
    Yellow fever

    Yellow fever is an acute Virus disease. It is an important cause of hemorrhage illness in many African and South American countries despite existence of an effective vaccine....
    ;
  • André Lwoff established in 1951 the existence of provirus
    Provirus

    A provirus is a virus genome that has integrated itself into the DNA of a host cell . One kind of virus that can become a provirus is a retrovirus....
    es
  • Pierre Lépine developed in 1954 one of the first antipolio vaccines
  • Jean-Pierre Changeux
    Jean-Pierre Changeux

    Jean-Pierre Changeux is a French neuroscience known for his research in several fields of biology, from the structure and function of proteins , to the early development of the nervous system up to cognitive functions....
     isolated in 1970 the first receptor to a neurotransmitter
    Neurotransmitter

    Neurotransmitters are chemistry which relay, amplify and modulate signals between a neuron and another cell . Neurotransmitters are packaged into vesicles that cluster beneath the membrane on the presynaptic side of a synapse, and are released into the synaptic cleft, where they bind to receptors in the membrane on the postsynaptic side of...
    , the acetylcholine
    Acetylcholine

    The chemical compound acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter in both the peripheral nervous system and central nervous system in many organisms including homo sapiens....
     receptor.
  • Luc Montagnier
    Luc Montagnier

    Luc Montagnier is a France virology and joint recipient with Fran?oise Barr?-Sinoussi and Harald zur Hausen of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine....
    , Françoise Barré-Sinoussi
    Françoise Barré-Sinoussi

    Fran?oise Barr?-Sinoussi is a France virologist and director of the Unit? de R?gulation des Infections R?trovirales at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France....
     and colleagues discovered the two HIV viruses that cause AIDS
    AIDS

    Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the HIV ....
    , in 1983 and 1985, to be honored by the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine


The biggest mistake by the Institute was ignoring a dissertation by Ernest Duchesne
Ernest Duchesne

Ernest Duchesne was a France physician who noted that certain moulds kill bacterium. He made this discovery thirty-two years before Alexander Fleming discovered the antibiotic properties of penicillin, a substance derived from those moulds, but his research went unnoticed....
 on the use of Penicillium glaucum
Penicillium glaucum

Penicillium glaucum is a mold which is used in the making of many types of cheese including the France blue cheeses, Fourme d'Ambert, Gorgonzola cheese, and Stilton cheese....
 to cure infections in 1897. The early exploitation of his discovery might have saved millions of lives, especially in World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
.

A new age of preventive medicine
Preventive medicine

Preventive medicine or preventive care is measures taken to prevent illness or injury, rather than curing them. This type of care is best exemplified by hand washing and immunizations....
 in France was made possible by such developments from the Pasteur Institute as vaccines for tuberculosis
Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacterium, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, the gastrointestinal system, bones, joints, and even the...
, diphtheria
Diphtheria

Diphtheria is an upper Respiration tract illness characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity....
, tetanus
Tetanus

Tetanus, also called lockjaw, is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, Anaerobic organism Clostridium tetani....
, yellow fever
Yellow fever

Yellow fever is an acute Virus disease. It is an important cause of hemorrhage illness in many African and South American countries despite existence of an effective vaccine....
, poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis

Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute virus infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route....
, and hepatitis B. The discovery and use of sulfonamides in treating infections was another breakthrough. Some researchers won fame by discovering antitoxin
Antitoxin

An antitoxin is an antibody with the ability to neutralize a specific toxin. Antitoxins are produced by certain animals, plants, and bacterium. Although they are most effective in neutralizing toxins, they can kill bacteria and other microorganisms....
s and Daniel Bovet
Daniel Bovet

Daniel Bovet was a Swiss-born Italy pharmacology who won the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of drugs that block the actions of specific neurotransmitters....
 received the 1957 Nobel Prize for his discoveries on synthetic anti-histamines and curarizing
Curare

Curare [koo rah ree] is a common name for various arrow poisons originating from South America. The three main types of curare are:* tube curarine ....
 compounds.

Since World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, Pasteur researchers have sharply focused on molecular biology
Molecular biology

Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecule level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry....
. Their achievements were recognized in 1965, when the Nobel Prize was shared by François Jacob
François Jacob

Fran?ois Jacob is a France biologist who, together with Jacques Monod, originated the idea that control of enzyme levels in all cell s occurs through feedback on Transcription ....
, Jacques Monod
Jacques Monod

See also Jacques-Louis Monod, French-born composer and cousin of Jacques Monod.Jacques Lucien Monod was a French biology who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1965....
 and André Lwoff for their work on the regulation of virus
Virus

A virus is a Optical microscope#Limitations of light microscopes infectious agent that is unable to grow or reproduce outside a host cell . Viruses infect all cellular life....
es. In 1985, the first human vaccine obtained by genetic engineering from animal cells, the vaccine against hepatitis B, was developed by Pierre Tiollais and collaborators.

Pasteur's Museum and Tomb

The Musée Pasteur
Musée Pasteur

The Mus?e Pasteur is a museum dedicated to scientist Louis Pasteur. It is located within the Institut Pasteur at 25 Rue du Docteur Roux, Paris, France, in the XVe arrondissement, and open daily in the warmer months; an admission fee is charged....
 (Pasteur museum ) is located in the South wing of the first building occupied by the Pasteur Institute, which was inaugurated on November 14th, 1888. Established in 1936, this museum houses the memory of Louis Pasteur's life and work in the vast apartment where he lived during the last seven years of his life, from 1888 to 1895. This museum also includes the collection of scientific objects illustrating the scientist's work, as well as the Byzantine funeral chapel where Pasteur is buried.

Institut Pasteur today

Today, the Institut Pasteur is one of the world's leading research centers; it houses 100 research units and close to 2,700 people, including 500 permanent scientist
Scientist

A scientist, in the broadest sense, refers to any person that engages in a system activity to acquire knowledge or an individual that engages in such practices and traditions that are linked to schools of thought or philosophy....
s and another 600 scientists visiting from 70 countries annually. The Institut Pasteur is also a global network of 24 foreign institutes devoted to medical problems in developing countries; a graduate study center and an epidemiological screening unit.

The international network is present in the following cities and countries:

  • Algiers
    Algiers

    Algiers Nicknamed El-Bahdja or Alger la Blanche for the glistening white of its buildings as seen rising up from the sea, Algiers is situated on the west side of a bay of the Mediterranean Sea....
    , Algeria
    Algeria

    Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
  • Bangui
    Bangui

    Bangui is the Capital of and the largest city in the Central African Republic. The majority of the population of the Central African Republic lives in the western parts of the country, near Bangui....
    , Central African Republic
    Central African Republic

    The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the east, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west....
  • Brussels
    Brussels

    Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....
    , Belgium
    Belgium

    * A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
  • São Paulo
    São Paulo

    S?o Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, and along with Tokyo, Seoul and Mexico City is among the four largest metropolitan regions of the world....
    , Brazil
    Brazil

    Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
  • Phnom Penh
    Phnom Penh

    Phnom Penh is the Capital and largest city of Cambodia. It is also the capital of the Phnom Penh municipality. It is an economic, industrial, commercial, cultural, tourist and historical center....
    , Cambodia
    Cambodia

    The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 13 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh....
  • Dakar
    Dakar

    Dakar is the capital city of Senegal, located on the Cap-Vert, on the country's Atlantic Ocean coast. It is Senegal's largest city. Its position, on the western edge of Africa , is an advantageous departure point for trans-Atlantic and European trade; this fact aided its growth into a major regional seaport....
    , Senegal
    Senegal

    Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the S?n?gal River in West Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south....
  • Lille
    Institut Pasteur de Lille

    The Institut Pasteur de Lille is a research centre, membre of the Pasteur Institute network.It includes 14 research units, 1150 employees including 626 researchers located in Lille ....
    , France
    France

    France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
  • Pointe-à-Pitre
    Pointe-à-Pitre

    Pointe-?-Pitre is the largest city of Guadeloupe, an overseas region and Overseas department of France located in the Lesser Antilles, of which it is a Subprefectures in France, being the seat of the Arrondissement of Pointe-?-Pitre....
    , Guadeloupe
    Guadeloupe

    Guadeloupe is an island group or archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at , with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres . It is an overseas department of France....
  • Cayenne
    Cayenne

    Cayenne is the Capital of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Ocean coast....
    , French Guyana
  • Ho Chi Minh City
    Ho Chi Minh City

    Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam. Under the name Prey Nokor it was the main port of Cambodia, before being annexed by the Vietnamese in the 17th century....
    , Nha Trang
    Nha Trang

    Nha Trang is a coastal city and capital of Khanh Hoa Province, on the Nam Trung Bo of Vietnam. It is well known for its pristine beaches and excellent scuba diving and is fast becoming a popular destination for international tourists, attracting large numbers of Backpacking as well as more affluent travelers on the Southeast Asia circuit...
     and Hanoi
    Hanoi

    Hanoi , estimated population 3,398,889 , is the Capital of Vietnam. From 1010 until 1802, with a few brief interruptions, it was the political centre of an independent Vietnam....
    , Vietnam
    Vietnam

    Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east....
  • Tehran
    Tehran

    Tehran is the capital and largest city of Iran, and the administrative center of Tehran Province. Tehran is a sprawling city at the foot of the Alborz mountain range with an immense network of highways unparalleled in Western Asia....
    , Iran
    Iran

    Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
    : (Pasteur Institute of Iran)
  • Abidjan
    Abidjan

    Abidjan is the economic and former official capital of C?te d'Ivoire . It is the largest city in the nation, and the second largest French speaking city in the world....
    , Côte d'Ivoire
    Côte d'Ivoire

    , formerly Ivory Coast, officially the , is a country in West Africa. The government officially discourages the use of the name Ivory Coast in English, preferring the French name to be used in all languages ....
  • Tananarive, Madagascar
    Madagascar

    Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
  • Casablanca
    Casablanca

    Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Greater Casablanca region.With a population of 3.1 million ??????)...
    , Morocco
    Morocco

    Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
  • Nouméa
    Nouméa

    Noum?a is the capital city of the France territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese people populations, as well as many Melanesians, Ni-Vanuatu and Kanaks that work in one of...
    , New Caledonia
    New Caledonia

    New Caledonia , is a "sui generis collectivity" of France located in the subregion of Melanesia in the Oceania. It comprises a main island , the Loyalty Islands, and several smaller islands....
  • St Petersburg, Russia
    Russia

    Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
  • Tunis
    Tunis

    Tunis is the Capital of the Tunisian Republic and also the Tunis Governorate, with a population of 1 200,000 in 2008 and over 3,980,500 in the municipal area....
    , Tunisia
    Tunisia

    Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....
  • Athens
    Athens

    Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
    , Greece
    Greece

    Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
  • Montevideo
    Montevideo

    Montevideo is the largest city, the capital and chief port of Uruguay. Montevideo is the only city in the country with a population over 1,000,000....
    , Uruguay
    Uruguay

    Uruguay is a country located in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to 3.46 million people, of whom 1.7 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area....
  • Bucharest
    Bucharest

    Bucharest is the capital city, industrial and commercial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the D?mbovita River....
    , Romania
    Romania

    Romania is a country located in Southeastern Europe Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian Mountains, bordering on the Black Sea....
  • Niamey
    Niamey

    Niamey, population 674,950 , is the Capital of Niger. It is Niger's largest city, lying on the Niger River, mostly on the east bank. It is an administrative, cultural and economic center....
    , Niger
    Niger

    Niger , officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east....
  • Yaoundé
    Yaoundé

    Yaound?, , is the capital city of Cameroon and second largest city in the country after Douala. It lies in the centre of the nation at about 750 metres above sea level....
    , Cameroon
    Cameroon

    The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary state of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south....
  • Seoul
    Seoul

    Seoul is the Capital and largest city of South Korea. With a population of over 10 million, It is one of the world's List of cities proper by population.The Seoul National Capital Area - which includes the major port city of Incheon and satellite towns in Gyeonggi-do, has 24.5 million inhabitants and is the world's second largest List of me...
    , South Korea
    South Korea

    South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea , ), often referred to as Korea and the "names of Korea#Revival of the names", is a Semi-presidential system republic in East Asia, located in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula....
  • Shanghai
    Shanghai

    Shanghai is the List of cities in the People's Republic of China by population in China and one of the List of metropolitan areas by population in the world, with over 20 million people....
    , China
    China

    China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
  • Pasteur Foundation, New York
    New York

    The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
    , USA
  • Canadian Pasteur Foundation, Montreal
    Montreal

    Montreal, or Montr?al, is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada of Quebec and the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population....
    , Canada
    Canada

    Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
  • Hong Kong
    Hong Kong

    Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south....
    , China
    China

    China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
  • Pasteur Institute of India
    Pasteur Institute of India

    Pasteur Institute of India, Coonooris an Autonomous Body under the control of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi....
    , Coonoor
    Coonoor

    Coonoor is a city and a municipality in the Nilgiris District in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for its production of Nilgiri tea....
    , India
    India

    India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
     


Research Centers

The Institut Pasteur web site currently shows 10 major research departments in 2008. These are:

Cell Biology and Infection Developmental Biology Genomes and Genetics Immunology Infection and Epidemiology Microbiology Neuroscience Parasitology and Mycology Structural Biology and Chemistry Virology

There are also non-research departments devoted to records and archives maintenance, maintenance of historical micro-organism cultures, publications and the library.

In addition to the isolation of HIV-1 and HIV-2, in the recent past researchers at the Pasteur Institute have developed a test for the early detection of colon cancer, produced a genetically engineered
Genetic engineering

Engineering There are a number of ways through which genetic engineering is accomplished. Essentially, the process has five main steps# Isolation of the genes of interest...
 vaccine against hepatitis B and a rapid diagnostic test for the detection of the Helicobacter pylori
Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative, microaerophile bacterium that inhabits various areas of the stomach and duodenum. It causes a chronic low-level inflammation of the stomach lining and is strongly linked to the development of duodenal and gastric peptic ulcers and stomach cancer bacteria....
 bacterium which is implicated in the formation of stomach ulcers. Other research in progress includes the study of cancer
Cancer

Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cell display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis . These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize....
 and specifically the investigation of the role of oncogene
Oncogene

An oncogene is a gene that, when mutated or expressed at high levels, helps turn a normal cell into a cancer cell.Many cells normally undergo a programmed form of death ....
s, the identification of tumor marker
Tumor marker

A tumor marker is a substance found in the blood, urine, or Biological tissue that can be elevated in cancer, among other tissue types. There are many different tumor markers, each indicative of a particular disease process, and they are used in oncology to help detect the presence of cancer....
s for diagnostic tests and the development of new treatments. One area of particular interest is the study of human papilloma viruses (HPV) and their role in cervical cancer
Cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is malignant cancer of the cervix uteri or cervical area. It may present with vaginal bleeding but symptoms may be absent until the cancer is in its advanced stages....
s. Researchers are currently focusing on the development of various vaccines against many diseases including AIDS, malaria
Malaria

Malaria is a Vector -borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. It is widespread in Tropics and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa....
, dengue fever
Dengue fever

Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever are acute fever tropical diseases, found in the tropics and Africa, and caused by four closely related virus serotypes of the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae....
 and the Shigella
Shigella

Shigella is a genus of Gram-negative, Endospore rod-shaped bacterium closely related to Escherichia coli and Salmonella. The causative agent of human shigellosis, Shigella cause disease in primates, but not in other mammals....
 bacterium.

Currently, an extensive line of research aims at determining the complete genome
Genome

In classical genetics, the genome of a diploid organism including eukarya refers to a full set of chromosomes or genes in a gamete; thereby, a regular somatic cell contains two full sets of genomes....
 sequences of several organisms of medical importance, in the hope of finding new therapeutic approaches. The Institute has contributed to genome-sequencing projects of the common yeast
Yeast

Yeasts are eukaryote microorganisms classified in the Kingdom fungus, with about 1,500 species currently described; they dominate fungal diversity in the oceans....
 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a species of budding yeast. It is perhaps the most useful yeast owing to its use since ancient times in baking and brewing....
, an organism which was so important for Louis Pasteur's history), completed in 1996, Bacillus subtilis
Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis, known as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a Gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium commonly found in soil....
 completed in 1997, Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a pathogenic bacterial species in the genus Mycobacterium and the causative agent of most cases of tuberculosis....
 completed in 1998.

Teaching Center

Since its founding, the Institut Pasteur has brought together scientists from many different disciplines for postgraduate study. Today, approximately 300 graduate students and 500 postdoctoral trainees from close to 40 different countries participate in postgraduate study programs at the Institute. They include pharmacists and veterinarians, as well as doctors, chemists and other scientists.

Epidemiological Reference Center

Strains of bacteria and viruses from many different countries are sent to the Institute's reference center for identification. In addition to maintaining this vital epidemiological resource, the Institute serves as advisor to the French government and the World Health Organization
World Health Organization

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health....
 (WHO) of the United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
. Pasteur scientists also help to monitor epidemics and control outbreaks of infectious diseases throughout the world. These activities have created a close collaboration between the Institute and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is an agency of the United States United States Department of Health and Human Services based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States adjacent to the campus of Emory University and northeast of downtown Atlanta....
 (CDC).

Vaccines and Diagnostic Products

Production and marketing of diagnostic tests developed in the Institute laboratories are the responsibility of Sanofi Diagnostics Pasteur, a subsidiary of the French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi, while production and marketing of vaccines are the responsibility of Pasteur Mérieux, Sérums et Vaccins.

Structure and Support

As a private, non-profit organization, the Institut Pasteur is governed by an independent Board of Directors, currently chaired by François Ailleret. The Director General of the Pasteur Institute is Alice Dautry.

By drawing financial support from many different sources, the Institute protects its autonomy and guarantees the independence of its scientists. The Institute's funding includes French government subsidies, consulting fees, licensing royalties, contract revenue and private contributions.

External links

  • . The Nobel Foundation.


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