A graduate of the École normale supérieure and a certified teacher in life and earth sciences, Virginie Courtier-Orgogozo is a research director at the CNRS, head of a research team at the Institut Jacques Monod in Paris, a lecturer at the École Polytechnique, a recipient of the CNRS Bronze Medal, and the 2014 Irène Joliot-Curie Prize for “Young Female Scientist.”
She is interested in the mechanisms involved in species evolution, with the aim of better understanding our origins and the future of living species. In particular, she studies the evolution of bioadhesives produced by fruit flies (Drosophila) to attach themselves to various substrates during metamorphosis. Together with Arnaud Martin, she created www.gephebase.org , a database of genes and mutations that have been identified to date by the international scientific community and that are responsible for natural morphological, physiological, or behavioral differences in plants and animals. This compilation has revealed that evolution often follows a limited number of genetic pathways, suggesting that evolution is, to some extent, predictable.
Virginie Courtier-Orgogozo is highly productive in the field of philosophy, particularly regarding the concepts of genes, development, identity, and chance. She has also written several articles on the risks associated with the new biotechnology of genetic forcing.