Jean Dausset fostered breakthroughs that led to successful organ transplantation. A specialist in blood diseases, Dausset discovered the existence of a human biological system that determines whether a body will accept or reject foreign substances, called the major histocompatability complex (MHC). This made it possible for surgeons to type cells to determine whether a prospective donor and patient are a compatible match. His research earned Dausset the Nobel Prize for medicine or physiology in 1980.

Jean Baptiste Gabriel Dausset was born in Toulouse, France, to Henri Dausset and the former Elizabeth Brullard. Dausset followed in the footsteps of his father, a physician and radiologist, by embarking upon a medical career. His studies at the University of Paris were interrupted by the onset of World War II, when he was drafted into military service. Following the fall of France to Germany in 1940, he left his occupied country to fight with...