The review article entitled “Genetic Regulatory Mechanisms in the Synthesis of Proteins“ or in brief the “Operon model” by François Jacob and Jacques Monod was published in the Journal of Molecular Biology on June 1961 ( J.Mol.Biol. 3, 318-356, 1961). This review summarized the experiments on the regulation of the lacZ gene encoding beta galactosidase in E. coli and on phage lambda lysogeny. It formulated for the first time the hypothesis that genes are regulated at the transcriptional level by specific regulatory genes and that these regulators (proteins or RNA) respond to metabolic changes, environment etc. It emphasized the role of short-lived RNA identified by F.Gros et al. and S.Brenner et al. as an intermediate between genes and their protein products. The Operon paradigm can be considered as one of the major milestones in the emergence of Molecular Biology in the second half of the 20th century.

The 50th anniversary of this publication will be celebrated with a special symposium to be held at the Pasteur Institute in Paris between the 17th and the 20th of May 2011.

Website: www.pasteur.fr/operon

Scientific contact
Developmental Biology Department
Lwoff Building
Institut Pasteur
28, rue du Dr Roux
75724 Paris cedex 15, France
Phone: +33 (0)1 4568 8512
Fax: +33 (0)1 4568 8979
E-mail: yaniv[at]pasteur.fr

Organisation Contact

 Elodie Pysson
INSTITUT PASTEUR
Congresses-Events
CIS - 3rd Floor
28 rue du Dr Roux
75724 Paris Cedex 15, France
Tel.: +33 (0)1 4061 3370
Fax : +33 (0) 1 4061 3721
Email : OPERON-2011[at]pasteur.fr