French talents will bring their discoveries to fruition elsewhere

This Wednesday, the French Emmanuelle Charpentier received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which she shares with an American, Jennifer Doudna.

But, that does not seem to rejoice Nicolas Beytout.

Yes, of course.

But when he spoke about it to one of the greatest French geneticists, he had this sentence: "I am happy for the woman, and unhappy for France".

Emmanuelle Charpentier did most of her studies in France, including in some of the most renowned institutes in the world such as Pasteur and Pierre-et-Marie Curie.

Then, she went abroad to complete her training and launch her research.

It is very classic in this type of training.

Absolutely.

What is less so, and what is in any case a shame, is that she never returned to France.

She has developed a tremendous career in the United States and Germany, not in France.

She raised funds there, several tens of millions of dollars, to found a company that is now very active and provides research tools to the major cognitive science and genetics laboratories around the world.

This is her fault: this exceptional woman, this researcher is also an entrepreneur.

And things get stuck in France because with us, for example, a researcher in the hospital or university world has hardly the right to combine his remuneration with another salary.

So, you think, create a box!

No, it is everyone under the height of egalitarianism.

The universal system sprinkles the money, instead of pointing it towards excellence.

It's a bit for everyone, and nothing for one.

The reign of the mean, what.

Her work, and that of her co-laureate, focuses on a gene modification technique.

Here too, we see that there is unease in France.

Among the areas potentially affected by his immense discoveries, there is agronomy and a possible way of bypassing GMOs.

So that opens up an infinite field, but in a country hostile to GMOs as we are, with a political class that is tearing itself apart over the temporary reintroduction of neonicotinoids to avoid (just that) losing the entire sugar industry, it is difficult to feel supported.

So all these talents will make their discoveries bear fruit elsewhere.

In France, we still have the figure of Marie Curie, twice Nobel Prize in chemistry, and of her husband Pierre, who was once with her.

Yes, and they are both in the Pantheon, the most majestic place of Republican glory.

France devotes a real cult to Marie and Pierre Curie, but it now doubts science, it is afraid of the unknown, of discovery.

She venerates a tomb, she is afraid of the future.

Part of the population rejects vaccines, another is ready to follow any enlightened guru.

If we no longer know how to seduce researchers, bring back or retain future French Nobel Prize winners, it is part of our system of excellence that will quickly find itself in danger.