Étienne-Émile Baulieu, a physician and biochemist whose interest in steroid hormones led to the development of a safe and effective method to prevent a pregnancy, has passed away at the age of 98.
Baulieu was born to Jewish parents in 1926 in Strasbourg, France, a city that became occupied by Germany in World War II. Baulieu’s family fled, eventually settling in Grenoble, and during the war he participated in the French Resistance.
He became a medical doctor in 1955 and later obtained a Ph.D. in biochemistry, but Baulieu characterized himself in interviews as a physician who does science.
Baulieu performed early research on receptors for estrogen, progesterone, and several other important steroid hormones, and clarified mechanisms by which these receptor nuclear proteins mediate hormone action. His investigations led to the development of synthetic steroid RU-486, also known as mifepristone, which blocks gestation by preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.
Baulieu’s pioneering research was honored with a 1989 Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award.
