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Ethel Moustacchi

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Ethel Moustacchi
Image
Moustacchi in 2011
Born(1933-08-21)21 August 1933
Cairo, Egypt
Died13 December 2016(2016-12-13) (aged 83)
Paris, France
CitizenshipFrench
AwardsKnight of the Legion of Honour
Scientific career
FieldsMolecular biology
Radiobiology
WorkplacesCNRS
Thesis Facteurs de la sensibilité des levures à l'action létale des radiations ionisantes : étude d'un mutant radio-résistant  (1964)
Raymond Latarjet [fr]

Ethel Moustacchi (21 August 1933 - 13 December 2016)[1] was an Egyptian-born French geneticist and research director of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). She was a leading figure in molecular biology and radiobiology research.[2] From 1988, she headed the Société française de génétique (French Genetic Society).[3] She is remembered in particular for her interest in the mechanisms of mutagenesis and DNA repair, for her research into Fanconi anemia and for her call for more attention to be given to the health effects of small doses of radiation on nuclear workers and healthcare professionals.[1]

In early 2026, Moustacchi was confirmed to be one of the 72 women to have their names added to those of the men already engraved on the Eiffel Tower.

Early life and education

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Esther Ethel Moustacchi was born in Cairo, Egypt, on 21 August 1933. Her father, Felix P. Moustacchi, was a Greek from Corfu, while her mother Flora (née Revi) was born in Cairo but came from a family established in Trieste. Ethel was their first child.[3][4][5] After first attending an Italian-speaking primary school, she became a student at the French lycée in Cairo where she passed her baccalauréat.[3] When only 17, on her own insistence, she moved to France in September 1951 to embark on her higher education, initially studying in Montpellier and then at the faculté des sciences de Paris where she studied chemistry and biology.[1][3]

Moustacchi first spent a preparatory year in sciences at the University of Montpellier,[3] then enrolled at the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris, and in 1954 joined the Institut du Radium, later the Curie Institute in Paris, where she subsequently spent most of her career.[1] She initially studied under geneticist Boris Ephrussi. Recruited by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in 1959, she began a thesis on the factors of radioresistance in yeast (French: Facteurs de la sensibilité des levures à l'action létale des radiations ionisantes : étude d'un mutant radio-résistant)[3] under the supervision of Raymond Latarjet [fr], which she defended in 1964.[1][6]

Career

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Moustacchi left France to pursue postdoctoral studies in the United States and collaborated with Donald Williamson in Herschel L. Roman's laboratory at Washington State University in Seattle.[2]

In 1966, aged 33 she returned to France and took over as head of the radio-biology laboratory at the faculté des sciences d'Orsay, a satellite branch of l'Institut du radium, and focused her research towards study of DNA damage.[2]

In 1985, she returned to the Curie Institute's Paris site, taking over Raymond Latarjet's laboratory and focusing on the mechanisms of mutagenesis and DNA repair through a pathophysiology approach to chemotherapy and radiotherapy induced cancers. She also worked for over a decade on Fanconi's anemia, a rare genetic disease affecting the bone marrow.[1]

From 1988 to 1992, she headed to French Genetic Institute[3] and from 1995, became a scientific advisor for the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), she called for more attention to be given to the health effects of small doses of radiation on nuclear workers and healthcare professionals.[1]

Moustacchi headed the joint CNRS/Curie Institute UMR218 unit until her retirement in 1998.[2]

In 1995, she became scientific advise for biology at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission.[1]

Her successor at the French Genetic Institute, Geneviève Almouzni, complemented her on the encouragement and inspiration she and her team received from Ethel Moustacchi. She was "always attentive to the younger members of the unit and was constantly available for advice."[3]

Moustacchi died in the 14th arrondissement of Paris on 13 December 2016, aged 83.[7]

Awards and commemoration

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Moustacchi was appointed Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 1999 and promoted to Officier in 2013.[1][8]

In 2011, Ethel Moustacchi received the Prix d'honneur de l'Inserm for her life's work.[9][10] She was also the recipient of the Pierre and Marie Curie Medal from the International Society for Radiobiology in French.[1]

In 2026, Moustacchi was announced as one of 72 historical women in STEM whose names have been proposed to be added to the 72 men already celebrated on the Eiffel Tower. The plan was announced by the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo following the recommendations of a committee led by Isabelle Vauglin of Femmes et Sciences and Jean-François Martins, representing the operating company which runs the Eiffel Tower.[11][12][13][5]

Selected publications

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  • Sequence specificity in photoreaction of various psoralen derivatives with DNA: Role in biological activity[14]
  • 6,4,4′-Trimethylangelicin photoadduct immunodetection in DNA: induction and repair in Fanconi's anemia and normal human fibroblasts[15]
  • Round table - DNA repair pathways and dose responses to ionizing radiations[16]
  • Moustacchi EDNA damage and repair: consequences on dose-responses. Mutat Res 464: 35-40[17]
  • Distribution and Repair of Bipyrimidine Photoproducts in Solar UV-irradiated Mammalian Cells[18]
  • FANCD1 et BRCA2, un seul et même gène?[19]
  • Fanconi anemia: Genes and function(s) revisited[20]
  • Sensitivity to photoaddition of mono- and bifunctional furocoumarins of X-ray sensitive mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae[21]
  • EXCISION OF PYRIMIDINE DIMERS FROM THE NUCLEAR DNA OF A HAPLOID RESPIRATION‐DEFICIENT (ρ) STRAIN OF SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE[22]
  • Un rôle pour les UVA dans les dommages solaires causés à l'ADN[23]
  • Biologie cellulaire et moléculaire de l'anémie de Fanconi[24]

Researchgate records 245 publications by Moustachi[25]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Mathilde Regnault, Disparition d'Ethel Moustacchi archive, Institut Curie press release, 16 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Prix d'Honneur Inserm 2011 ETHEL MOUSTACCHI". archive.wikiwix.com. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pigeard, Natalie (5 April 2026). "Ethel Moustacchi [1933-2016]". Musée Curie. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  4. ↑ Who's who in science and engineering : 2002-2003, millennium edition. Internet Archive. New Providence, NJ : Marquis Who's Who. 2001. ISBN 978-0-8379-5760-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. 1 2 72 femmes de sciences pour la tour Eiffel Femmes & Sciences (in French). Retrieved 2026-02-13
  6. ↑ CEA (2026-02-20). "Quatre femmes scientifiques du CEA bientôt inscrites sur la Tour Eiffel". CEA/Fabrique de savoirs (in French). Retrieved 2026-04-17.
  7. ↑ "matchID - Moteur de recherche des décès". deces.matchid.io. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  8. ↑ "Décret du 31 décembre 1999 portant promotion et nomination - Légifrance". www.legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2025-03-15. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  9. ↑ LaChaine CASDEN (2013-10-10). Ethel Moustacchi, Prix d'Honneur Inserm 2011. Retrieved 2026-02-13 – via YouTube.
  10. ↑ "Les Prix Inserm · Inserm, La science pour la santé". Inserm (in French). Retrieved 2026-02-14.
  11. ↑ "Eiffel Tower: a list of 72 women scientists will soon be inscribed on the Parisian monument". www.sortiraparis.com. Retrieved 2026-02-14.
  12. ↑ "Eiffel Tower to honor 72 women scientists for posterity". 2026-01-26. Retrieved 2026-02-14.
  13. ↑ "Les noms des 72 femmes pour la Tour Eiffel ont été révélés". Femmes & Sciences (in French). Retrieved 2026-02-14.
  14. ↑ Boyer, Veronique; Moustacchi, Ethel; Sage, Evelyne (1988-04-19). "Sequence specificity in photoreaction of various psoralen derivatives with DNA: role in biological activity". Biochemistry. 27 (8): 3011–3018. doi:10.1021/bi00408a052. ISSN 0006-2960. PMID 3401463 – via Research Gate.
  15. ↑ Rousset, S.; Nocentini, S.; Santella, R. M.; Moustacchi, E. (1997-04-01). "6,4,4′-Trimethylangelicin photoadduct immunodetection in DNA: induction and repair in Fanconi's anemia and normal human fibroblasts". Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology. 38 (2): 220–227. Bibcode:1997JPPB...38..220R. doi:10.1016/S1011-1344(96)07461-1. ISSN 1011-1344. PMID 9203385 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
  16. ↑ Moustacchi, Ethel (February 1999). "DNA repair pathways and dose responses to ionizing radiations". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences - Series III - Sciences de la Vie. 322 (2–3): 139–141. doi:10.1016/S0764-4469(99)80036-5. PMID 10196665 – via Research Gate.
  17. ↑ Moustacchi, Ethel (February 2000). "DNA damage and repair: consequences on dose-responses". Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis. 464 (1): 35–40. Bibcode:2000MRGTE.464...35M. doi:10.1016/S1383-5718(99)00164-3. PMID 10633175 – via Research Gate.
  18. ↑ Perdiz, D. (October 2000). "Distribution and repair of bipyrimidine photoproducts in solar UV-irradiated mammalian cells. Possible role of Dewar photoproducts in solar mutagenesis". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 275 (35): 26732–26742. doi:10.1074/jbc.M001450200. PMID 10827179 – via Research Gate.
  19. ↑ Papadopoulo, Dora; Moustacchi, Ethel (November 2002). "FANCD1 et BRCA2, un seul et même gène?". Médecine/Sciences. 18 (11): 1058–1061. doi:10.1051/medsci/200218111058. ISSN 0767-0974 – via Research Gate.
  20. ↑ Papadopoulo, Dora; Moustacchi, Ethel (August 2005). "L'anémie de Fanconi : gènes et fonction(s) revisités". Médecine/Sciences. 21 (8–9): 730–736. doi:10.1051/medsci/2005218-9730. ISSN 0767-0974. PMID 16115458 – via Research Gate.
  21. ↑ Henriques, J. A. P.; Moustacchi, E. (January 2008). "SENSITIVITY TO PHOTOADDITION OF MONO-AND BIFUNCTIONAL FUROCOUMARINS OF X-RAY SENSITIVE MUTANTS OF SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE". Photochemistry and Photobiology. 31 (6): 557–563. doi:10.1111/j.1751-1097.1980.tb03746.x. ISSN 0031-8655 – via Research Gate.
  22. ↑ Waters, R.; Moustacchi, E. (January 2008). "EXCISION OF PYRIMIDINE DIMERS FROM THE NUCLEAR DNA OF A HAPLOID RESPIRATION-DEFICIENT (ρ) STRAIN OF SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE". Photochemistry and Photobiology. 21 (6): 441–444. doi:10.1111/j.1751-1097.1975.tb06703.x. ISSN 0031-8655 – via Research Gate.
  23. ↑ Sage, E; Moustacchi, E (July 2012). "Un rôle pour les UVA dans les dommages solaires causés à l'ADN". Médecine/Sciences. 12 (6–7): 806. doi:10.4267/10608/824. ISSN 1958-5381 – via Research Gate.
  24. ↑ Moustacchi, E (February 2013). "Biologie cellulaire et moléculaire de l'anémie de Fanconi". Médecine/Sciences. 10 (10): 979. doi:10.4267/10608/2504. ISSN 1958-5381 – via Research Gate.
  25. ↑ Moustacchi, E. "List of Publications by Ethel Moustacchi". Research Gate. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
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