What follows is a translation from the French of a press release published by the Fondation Jerome Lejeune in Paris on February 6, 2014 to clarify accusations being made against the legacy of Jerome Lejeune as the one who discovered the genetic cause of Down syndrome. The original release can be read in French at http://goo.gl/43afZg. 

It is unfortunate that undocumented claims have been made and presented as fact in the press that challenge over 50 years of history in genetics. The burden of proof is the responsibility of those who challenge the historical record. There has been no factual documentation provided to validate Dr. Gautier's claim. On the contrary, the Lejeune family and the Jerome Lejeune Foundation are in possession of substantial documentation that leaves no question regarding the authenticity of the historical record as it stands. 

The English translation of the release follows:

Who benefits from the controversy

over the discovery of trisomy 21?

Various media outlets have repeated the argument of a journalist that would lead one to believe that:

-       Prof. Jérôme Lejeune had appropriated the discovery of the cause of trisomy 21 from Mme Marthe Gautier, who supposedly had made that discovery by herself;

-       The Jérôme Lejeune Foundation had intimidated Madame Gautier and prevented her from speaking at the genetics conference on January 31 of this year in Bordeaux.

What happened at the genetics conference on January 31, 2014?

In the days preceding the conference, the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation was warned of a step taken by Mme Marthe Gautier that was likely to infringe on the memory of Prof. Jérôme Lejeune, the principal author of the discovery of the cause of trisomy 21, published in 1959 (and signed by the co-authors in the following order:  Lejeune, Gautier, Turpin). 

In order to deal objectively with the statements that were to be made, which is surely the least that they could do, the Foundation and the family of Prof. Lejeune requested and obtained authorization from the President of the Court of Appeals of Bordeaux to have the text of Mme Gautier’s speech entered into the public record by a court bailiff. 

The organizers of the conference were, quite obviously, informed of this step.  Now, after taking note of the contents of the talk planned by Mme Gautier, they decided to cancel her speech. 

Consequently the Foundation denounces the biased coverage of its role in this affair. 

How to explain this dispute?

For fifty years, the scientific community, both nationally and internationally, did not express the slightest doubt about the history of the discovery. 

Mme Gautier’s statement is unilateral (Messieurs Lejeune and Turpin are dead), peremptory (despite a complete absence of evidence), and late (she is now 88 years old).  She had already made this claim in an article in the journal Médecine-Sciences in 2009, but it is utterly without foundation, although not without its inconsistencies. 

One example:  several months after the date on which Mme Gautier claims to have discovered—by herself—the 47^th chromosome responsible for the syndrome, Prof. Turpin, head of the laboratory, wrote to Jérôme Lejeune, in a handwritten letter dated October 27, 1958, that “Mlle Gautier and Mme Massé (the technician) are still at 46.” 

This is only one of the numerous inconsistencies that appear upon closer inspection of the accusations leveled against Jérôme Lejeune:  inconsistencies that are first internal, then with the historical facts, next with the writings of Jérôme Lejeune, his correspondence with his collaborators at that time, and finally with the testimonies of the scientific community. 

Nevertheless, Messieurs Turpin and Lejeune included Mme Gautier as one of the coauthors of the publication in 1959 and never disputed her contribution.  As for the Foundation and the Lejeune family, neither have they called it into question. 

It is excusable when an elderly person becomes confused.  Less excusable is the exploitation by some media outlets of which Mme Gautier has been the victim.  Could their aim be to prove that Jérôme Lejeune, because of his opposition to abortion and because of what they consider “uncompromising Catholicism” could not be the author of a major scientific discovery? 

The utter inadequacy of the proof that we find, particularly in the articles published in Le Monde and Libération, allows them to cause collateral damage to the Foundation that bears the name of Jérôme Lejeune and the geneticist who is his successor at the Hôpital Necker-Enfants-Malades [a pediatric research hospital in Paris], both of which are committed to the service of intellectually disabled persons and are consequently associated with a heritage that is being discredited. 

This ideological terrorism, which is very much in vogue these days but plainly traceable, will surprise no one.  The Foundation and the family of Prof. Lejeune intend to take further action in this matter if and when appropriate.