In this article, Gillian Butler-Browne and Vincent Mouly look back on their scientific and human “journey” with François Gros. The journey began for Gillian Butler-Browne in 1978, when she began working on muscle at the Institut Pasteur, in the laboratory of François Gros. There, she characterized the expression profile of different myosin isoforms during human and rodent development. In 1982, Vincent Mouly joined this laboratory for his doctorate, where he defined the different populations of myoblasts appearing during development in birds, then in man.
It was during these same years that François Gros participated with Bernard Barataud and Michel Fardeau in the development of the AFM into its present form, and in 1981, with Michel Fardeau, he created the AFM’s scientific council. He remained a member until 2015, chairing the board from 1986 to 1997, then serving as Honorary Chairman from 2006 to 2015. In the 1980s, he introduced Gillian Butler-Browne and Vincent Mouly to the AFM. They had decided to devote themselves to research into human muscle and dystrophies, a field in which they have remained ever since, carrying out their work at the Institut de Myologie from 2006 onwards.
Other essential discoveries for myology have been made by this team of researchers, a shared scientific journey made possible by the invaluable and always benevolent support of François Gros.
