André Lwoff's seminal work in the genetic control of virus synthesis helped guide successive generations of scientists toward a new outlook on cell physiology. Lwoff's primary contributions have come from his study of the biology of viruses, including the genetics of bacteria and the mechanisms of viral infection and replication.

Lwoff was born in Ainay-le-Château, in central France to Russian immigrant parents. His father, Solomon Lwoff, was a physician in a psychiatric hospital; his mother, Marie Siminovitch, was a sculptor. Although Lwoff inherited his mother's artistic temperament, his interest in science was cultivated by his father, who often took the boy with him on his daily rounds. On the advice of his father, Lwoff attended the University of Paris (the Sorbonne) to study medicine, a field in which he could earn a comfortable living. But his real interest lay in his other major field of...