Jacques Dubochet

Jacques Dubochet
File:Jacques Dubochet, 2017 (cropped).jpg Jacques Dubochet in 2017.
Born	(1942-06-08) 8 June 1942 Aigle, Switzerland
Citizenship	Switzerland
Fields	Structural biology Cryo-electron microscopy
Institutions	European Molecular Biology Laboratory (1978-1987) University of Lausanne (since 1987)
Education	École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (BS) University of Geneva (MS) University of Geneva (PhD) University of Basel (PhD)
Thesis	Contribution to the use of dark-field electron microscopy in biology (1974)
Doctoral advisor	Eduard Kellenberger
Known for	Cryo-electron microscopy
Notable awards	Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2017)

Jacques Dubochet (born 8 June 1942) is a retired Swiss biophysicist. He is a former researcher at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, and an honorary professor of biophysics at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

In 2017, he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson "for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution". He received the Royal Photographic Society Progress Medal, alongside his colleagues Professor Joachim Frank and Dr Richard Henderson, in 2018 for 'an important advance in the scientific or technological development of photography or imaging in the widest sense'.

Career

Dubochet started to study physics at the École polytechnique de l'Université de Lausanne (now École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) in 1962 and obtained his degree in physical engineering in 1967. He obtained a Certificate of Molecular Biology at University of Geneva in 1969 and then began to study electron microscopy of DNA. In 1973, he completed his thesis in biophysics at University of Geneva and University of Basel.

From 1978 to 1987, Jacques Dubochet was group leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, then part of West Germany. From 1987 to 2007, he was professor at the University of Lausanne. In 2007, at 65 years old, he retired and became an honorary professor at the University of Lausanne.

During his career, Jacques Dubochet developed technologies in cryo-electron microscopy, cryo-electron tomography and cryo-electron microscopy of vitreous sections. These technologies are used to image individual biological structures such as protein complexes or virus particles. At Lausanne he took part in initiatives to make scientists more aware of social issues.

In 2014, Jacques Dubochet received EMBL's Lennart Philipson Award. Describing his career in 2015, Professor Gareth Griffiths, his colleague at EMBL explained: "Jacques had a vision. He found a way of freezing thin films of water so fast that crystals had no time to form [that could damage samples] [...] over time the technique has become increasingly important to life science research, and it is clear today it is Nobel Prize-worthy."

Jacques Dubochet at the Nobel Prize press conference in Stockholm (December 2017). Jacques Dubochet at the Nobel Prize press conference in Stockholm (December 2017).  Jacques Dubochet and EPFL President Martin Vetterli at the Scientific and Educational Days 2018. Jacques Dubochet and EPFL President Martin Vetterli at the Scientific and Educational Days 2018.

When asked by his university how he would like his Nobel Prize to be recognised by the institution he asked for a parking space for his bicycle which was duly given. He had cycled to his lab almost every day for 30 years.

Personal life

File:Jacques Dubochet Manifestation Climat Berne.jpg

Speaking in front of the Federal Palace in Bern during the national climate demonstration in 2019

Jacques Dubochet is married with two children. He has dyslexia.

In the 1970s, for the second meeting with his future wife, they went to protest against the Kaiseraugst nuclear power plant construction project.

Dubochet is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, and a member of the municipal parliament of Morges, where he holds a seat on the supervisory committee.

Bibliography

• Jacques Dubochet, Parcours, Éditions Rosso, 2018, 216 pages (ISBN 9782940560097).

External links

• Official page
• Blog
• [[Category:Nobel Prize in {{{1}}} winners]] including the Nobel Lecture on 8 December 2017 Early cryo-electron microscopy