Dr. Bernard Dutrillaux
By chromosome banding, it was possible to show that the components (chromosomes or large chromosome fragments) of the karyotypes of most Primates are fairly conserved, from Lemurs (Prosimians) to Hominidae. This could be extended to other mammals such as Carnivora, Lagomorpha and some Rodents, which allowed us to reconstruct ancestral karyotypes. These reconstructions were largely confirmed by molecular cytogenetics.
Fortunately, most rearrangements, such as inversions, separating the karyotypes are intra-chromosomal, which allowed us to follow any chromosome from species to species. Taken independently, chromosomes underwent series of changes compatible with a dichotomic evolution, but this becomes totally incompatible when they are considered together. Only a network or reticulated evolution is compatible with chromosome data, a position that we have been defending for the last 40 years.
Bernard Dutrillaux followed his career as cytogeneticist at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris, from 1967 to 1982 in the biomedical research unit directed by Pr J. Lejeune; from 1983 to 2003, as research director of a unit mainly involved in cancer research, at the Curie Institute. In parallel, he created and directed the laboratory of Experimental Genetics at the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA), from 1977 to 1995, and the department of Radiobiology and Radiopathology, from 1995 to 2005. Research Director Emeritus in 2006, he left oncology and radiobiology to join a research unit (Organisation, structure and Evolution de la Biodiversité) at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle of Paris, his present situation. In this context, he worked with his wife and they developed an active collaboration with the laboratory of Zissis Mamusis, on cytogenetic and genetics of selected Greek and Caribbean insects. One of his main studies is on the chromosome evolution of primates.