thumb|Medical Center of Institut Pasteur, Paris, [[Rue de Vaugirard]]

The Pasteur Institute (, ) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies. The institute was founded on 4 June 1887 and inaugurated on 14 November 1888.

For over a century, the Institut Pasteur has researched infectious diseases. This worldwide biomedical research organization based in Paris was the first to isolate HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in 1983. It has also been responsible for discoveries that have enabled medical science to control diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, influenza, yellow fever, and plague.

Since 1908, ten Institut Pasteur scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine and physiology—the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was shared between two Pasteur scientists.

History

thumb|[[Louis Pasteur]]

thumb|Institut Pasteur in [[Bandung, Dutch East Indies<br>Under the Guided Democracy period, the Indonesian government nationalized this branch into Bio Farma.]]

thumb|Institut Pasteur in [[Tunis, ca.1900]]

The Institut Pasteur was founded in 1887 by the French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur. He was committed both to basic research and its practical applications. From the start, Pasteur brought together scientists with various specialties. The first five departments were directed by two normaliens (graduates of the École Normale Supérieure), Émile Duclaux (general microbiology research) and Charles Chamberland (microbes research applied to hygiene), a biologist, Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (morphological microbe research), and two physicians, Jacques-Joseph Grancher (rabies) 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, Cours de Microbie Technique (Course of microbe research techniques).

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

  • Emile Roux and Alexandre Yersin discovered the mechanism of action of Corynebacterium diphtheriae and how to treat diphtheria with antitoxins
  • Alexandre Yersin discovered in 1894 the pathogen of bubonic plague, Yersinia pestis
  • Paul-Louis Simond discovered in 1898 the role of the flea in the transmission of plague
  • Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin discovered how to culture the tuberculosis bacillus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (so-called BCG or Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) at Institut Pasteur de Lille, and developed in 1921 the first effective anti-tuberculosis vaccine
  • Alphonse Laveran received the 1907 Nobel Prize for his research on the role of protozoans as disease agents (notably, his discovery of the malaria hematozoon)
  • Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov received the Nobel Prize in 1908 for contributions to the scientific understanding of the immune system
  • Constantin Levaditi and Karl Landsteiner demonstrated in 1910 that poliomyelitis is due to a filterable virus
  • Félix d'Herelle discovered in 1917 the bacteriophage, a virus that spread only inside bacteria
  • Jules Bordet received the Nobel prize in 1919 for his discoveries on immunity, especially the implication of antibodies and the complement system′s mechanisms of action
  • Charles Nicolle received the Nobel prize in 1928 for explaining how typhus is transmitted, especially the role of the louse
  • Jean Laigret developed the first vaccine for yellow fever in 1932.
  • André Lwoff established the existence of proviruses in 1951, and the work honored by the 1965 Nobel Prize.
  • Jacques Monod and Francois Jacob discovered the mechanism of genes' transcription regulation, a work honored by the 1965 Nobel Prize
  • Pierre Lépine developed in 1955 one of the first anti-polio vaccines
  • Jean-Pierre Changeux isolated the first receptor to a neurotransmitter, the acetylcholine receptor in 1970.
  • Luc Montagnier, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and colleagues discovered the two HIV viruses that cause AIDS in 1983 and 1985; Montagnier and Barré-Sinoussi were honored by the 2008 Nobel Prize

A new age of preventive medicine in France was made possible by the Institut Pasteur's (early 20th century) development of vaccines for tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, yellow fever and poliomyelitis. The discovery and use of sulfonamides in treating infections was another of its earlier breakthroughs. Some researchers discovered antitoxins, while Daniel Bovet received the 1957 Nobel Prize for his discoveries on synthetic anti-histamines and curarizing compounds.

Since World War II, Pasteur researchers have focused on molecular biology. Their achievements were recognized in 1965, when the Nobel Prize was shared by François Jacob, Jacques Monod and André Lwoff for their work on the regulation of viruses. 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.

thumb|The building hosting the Museum and the funeral chapel of Pasteur

Opening

The center against rabies, directed by Jacques-Joseph Grancher and Émile Roux, had become so overcrowded that it became necessary to build a structure that Pasteur had been using the name "Institute Pasteur" long before it was even built. Pasteur delegated the task of the project and of creating the new building, situated on rue Dutot, to two of his colleagues, Grancher and Emile Duclaux.

From the beginning, the Institute experienced economic difficulties for which it needed the help of the government, some foreign rulers, and Madame Boucicaut, but this aid did not affect its independence.

The statutes drawn by Pasteur and later approved by Duclaux and Grancher define, besides its absolute freedom and independence, the institute's internal structure: a rabies division controlled by Grancher, anthrax one in Chamberland's hands, who also supervised the department of microbiology, while Emile Roux dealt with microbial methods applied to medicine.

World War I and II

thumb|right|Men and woman working in a classroom at the Institut Pasteur,

During the First World War, the Pasteur Institute prioritized vaccinating troops against the easily contractable typhoid fever. By September 1914, the institute was able to provide 670,000 doses of the vaccine and continued to produce it throughout the conflict.

Gabriel Bertrand, with Roux's authorization, crafted a grenade based on chloropicrin and Fourneau discovered the chemical reaction that led to the formation of methylarsine chloride.

In 1921, Albert Simard edited the La réaction de fixation de l'alexine: son application au diagnostic sérologique de la peste, "work of the Pasteur Institute in Paris, plague laboratory."

In 1938, the institute, despite its relative poverty, built a biochemical division and another one dedicated to cellular pathology, whose direction was entrusted to the hands of Boivin (who went on to discover endotoxins that are contained in the germ's body and are freed after its death). During the same period, Andre Lwoff assumed the direction of a new microbial physiology branch built on rue Dutot. The institute deposited the complete sequences of the virus samples taken from two of the first French cases on the GISAID database platform. The institute has also been involved in research and development of testing and epidemiological modelling, including in Africa via its network institutions.

In 2020, Pasteur was involved in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with Merck & Co., but this was abandoned in January 2021 after unsuccessful clinical trials.

Institute Pasteur in Cambodia was a key institution involved in the public health response during the COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia, as well as conducting research into SARS-CoV-2. Pasteur Institute of Dakar were also involved in Senegal's health response. Nicolle managed to attract Hélène Sparrow to be Laboratory Chief in Tunis. She had worked with Rudolf Weigl, who had developed a vaccine, and she was able to introduce this to Tunisia as the start of a public health programme to control the disease.

Nevertheless, three other scientists also identified the bacterium responsible for the disease: Ricketts, Russell Morse Wilder (1885–1959), and Prowazek, who called it Rickettsia prowazekii.

The Hospital Pasteur

The Hospital Pasteur was built during the first years of the 20th century in front of the institute and was employed for a long time by the members as a field for clinical observation and experimentation of therapeutic processes elaborated by themselves. Since in the beginning it was provided with only 120 beds, every patient was so well isolated in their private room that each room could be almost considered a small pest house, ideal for quarantine. The construction of the hospital was enabled by the gift of a benefactor, Madame Lebaudy, while money offered by the baroness Hirsch was used to build a large pavilion that accommodated the Department of Chemical Biology of the institute. is located in the south wing of the first building occupied by the Institut Pasteur, which was inaugurated on 14 November 1888. Established in 1936, this museum preserves 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 Neo-Byzantine funeral chapel where Pasteur is buried.

The Pasteur Network

Often confused with the Pasteur Institute (in Paris), the Pasteur Network is an alliance of 32 institutes worldwide, of which the Pasteur Institute in Paris is a member. It brings together more than 100 research units and close to 2,700 people, including 500 permanent scientists and another 600 scientists visiting from 70 countries annually. The Institut Pasteur is also a global network of 33 foreign institutes devoted to medical problems in developing countries; a graduate study center and an epidemiological screening unit.

thumb|Bâtiment MONOD, Institut Pasteur de [[Madagascar]]

thumb|Institut Pasteur in [[Montevideo, Uruguay]]

thumb|right|150px|[[Institut Pasteur de Lille]]

right|thumb|Pasteur Institute in [[Hanoi, Vietnam]]

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

{|class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! City

! Country

! Institute name

!Date Created

|-

| Algiers

| Algeria

| Pasteur Institute of Algeria

| 1894

|-

| Athens

| Greece

|Hellenic Pasteur Institute

|1920

|-

| Bangui

| Central African Republic

|

| 1961

|-

| Brussels

| Belgium

|

| 1904

|-

| Rome

| Italy

| Istituto Pasteur-Rome

| 1964

|-

| São Paulo, Fiocruz

| Brazil

| Oswaldo Cruz Foundation

| 1900

|-

| Phnom Penh

| Cambodia

| Institute Pasteur du Cambodge

| 1924

|-

| Cayenne

| French Guiana, France

|

| 1940

|-

| Ho Chi Minh City

| Vietnam

| Institut Pasteur in Ho Chi Minh City

| 1891

|-

| Nha Trang

| Vietnam

| Pasteur Institute of Nha Trang

| 2006

|-

| Sofia

| Bulgaria

|

| 1947

|-

| Bucharest

| Romania

|

| 2004

|-

| New York City

| United States

| Pasteur Foundation

| 1951

|-

| Montreal, Laval

| Canada

| Canadian Pasteur Foundation

| 1938

|-

| Hong Kong

| China

| Hong Kong University - Pasteur Research Centre

| 1999

|-

| Coonoor

| India

| Pasteur Institute of India

| 1907

|}

Research centers

As of 2025, the Institut Pasteur has thirteen major research departments:

  • Cell Biology and Infection,
  • Developmental and Stem Cell Biology,
  • Genomes and Genetics,
  • Global Health,
  • Hearing Institute,
  • Immunology,
  • Microbiology,
  • Mycology,
  • Neuroscience,
  • Parasites and Insect Vectors,
  • Structural Biology and Chemistry,
  • Virology,
  • Computational Biology

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 Institut Pasteur have developed a test for the early detection of colon cancer, produced a genetically engineered vaccine against hepatitis B and a rapid diagnostic test for the detection of the Helicobacter pylori bacterium which is implicated in the formation of stomach ulcers. Other research in progress includes the study of cancer and specifically the investigation of the role of oncogenes, the identification of tumor markers 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 cancers. Researchers are currently focusing on the development of various vaccines against many diseases, including AIDS, malaria, dengue fever, and the Shigella bacterium.

Currently, an extensive line of research aims at determining the complete genome 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 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an organism which was so important for Louis Pasteur's history), completed in 1996, Bacillus subtilis completed in 1997, Mycobacterium 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 an advisor to the French government and the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations. 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 (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 Yves Saint-Geours. The director-general is Yasmine Belkaid.

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.

The book The Paris Option by Robert Ludlum and Gayle Lynds begins with four men blowing up the Institut Pasteur, as a cover for stealing a molecular computer project being done there.

References

Bibliography

  • Gascar, Pierre. La Strada di Pasteur, Jaca Book, Milano 1991. .
  • Hage, Jerald and Jonathon Mote. "Transformational Organizations and a Burst of Scientific Breakthroughs," Social Science History (2010) 34#1 pp 13–46. online
  • Reynolds, Moira Davison. How Pasteur Changed History: The Story of Louis Pasteur and the Institut Pasteur (1994)
  • Seidel, Atherton. "Chemical research at the Institut Pasteur," Journal of Chemical Education, (1926) 3#11, p 1217+ DOI: 10.1021/ed003p1217
  • Weindling, Paul. "Scientific elites and laboratory organization in fin de siècle Paris and Berlin: The Institut Pasteur and Robert Koch's Institute for Infectious Diseases compared," in Andrew Cunningham and Perry Williams, eds. The Laboratory Revolution in Medicine (Cambridge University Press, 1992) pp: 170–88.
  • Monod, J.: The Institut Pasteur. The Nobel Foundation.
  • 1890-07-05: M. Pasteur in his cabinet at theInstitut Pasteur PARIS.
  • Annales de l'Institut Pasteur in Gallica, the digital library of the BnF

Sources

  • The History of Institut Pasteur
  • Fondation Mérieux