New & Noteworthy

In Memoriam: André Goffeau

April 12, 2018

It was with great sadness that we learned that André Goffeau, renowned yeast researcher and Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, passed away on April 2, 2018.

Prof. Goffeau worked on yeast transporter genes and multidrug resistance for much of his scientific career, and made many contributions to this field. But he will forever be remembered for his visionary idea to sequence the entire genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, ultimately leading to the coordination of a world-wide collaborative effort during the late 1980s and early 1990s by researchers from 19 countries working in 94 laboratories. The sequencing project, which represented the first completely sequenced eukaryotic genome, culminated in the landmark publication “Life with 6000 Genes” (Goffeau et al. 1996). But of course this was only the beginning of a cascading myriad of discoveries, methods, resources and careers built upon the existence of the yeast genome sequence.

The collaborative nature of the yeast community’s effort was nicely summed up in the 1996 Goffeau et al. paper: “Whether they worked in large centers or small laboratories, most of the 600 or so scientists involved in sequencing the yeast genome share the feeling that the worldwide ties created by this venture are of inestimable value to the future of yeast research” and indeed this has proved true. Prof. Goffeau was recognized with many awards and honors over his career, including the 2002 Beadle Medal of the Genetics Society of America for his work in having “initiated and successfully led the yeast genome sequencing project”. After the completion of the S. cerevisiae genome he continued to sequence whole genomes of other microbes and also worked on novel anti-cancer agents. Prof. Goffeau was a highly praised mentor and published hundreds of scientific papers of which many resulted from large collaborations; he also served on journal editorial boards, organized meetings, and performed many other valuable services to the scientific community over his career. He was an active and treasured part of the yeast community and we will miss him greatly.

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