Organ transplant pioneer Jean Dausset dies

June 25, 10:25 PMOrgan and Tissue Donor ExaminerCathy Doheny

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HLA region of Chromosome 6*

Nobel prize-winning French immunologist and organ transplant pioneer Jean Dausset died of natural causes on June 6th in Mallorca, Spain at the age of 92. He was best known for his discovery of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue system in 1958 that allows doctors to verify compatibility between donor and recipient for an organ transplant.

Dausset's discovery helped doctors to facilitate safer organ transplants by allowing donor and recipient cell types to be matched quickly and inexpensively through simple blood tests, rather than the skin grafts that had been previously used. HLA genes also help researchers to understand certain auto-immune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, and in tracking genetic ancestry.

Dausset was born in Toulouse, France on October 19, 1916. He studied medicine at the University of Paris, and during World War, he served in North Africa, where he performed blood transfusions. In 1984, Dausset used his nobel prize money to establish the Center for Study of Human Polymorphisms (CEPH), which was later renamed the Foundation Jean Dausset-CEPH. It was through this foundation that Dausset created the first comprehensive physical map of the human genome.

 For more info: HLA Tissue Type Test , HLA Matching: Finding the Best Donor or Cord Blood Unit (Be the Match Marrow Registry)

*photo - Wikimedia Commons