French Virologist Who Discovered HIV Passes Away

Luc Montagnier, the French virologist who discovered the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has passed away at the age of 89 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris. This information was reported by the newspaper Liberation.

Montagnier graduated from the University of Paris and, as part of a scientific team at the Pasteur Institute in 1982, was able to identify the virus responsible for AIDS, which was just beginning to spread at that time. A year later, a paper on his discovery was published in the prestigious scientific journal Science.

Throughout his life, Dr. Montagnier dedicated himself to virology and the study of methods to combat HIV. Known for his controversial views, he suggested early in the COVID-19 pandemic that the virus may have originated from a laboratory leak where experiments were being conducted on AIDS treatments.