SW News: The legendary French physician and geneticist, Jérôme Lejeune, who discovered the cause of Down syndrome, has moved one step closer to sainthood. On January 21, Thursday, Pope Francis authorized a decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Servant of God Jérôme Lejeune.

The Jérôme Lejeune Foundation, which promotes medical research in genetic diseases, has welcomed the news with “immense joy”. "This announcement comes in an alarming context for respect for life in France, while the bioethics bill still under discussion in Parliament increasingly objectifies and dehumanizes the embryo which is the youngest member of the human species," said the Foundation.

Born on 13 June 1926 in Montrouge, France, Professor Jérôme Lejeune was a devout Catholic and a compassionate physician who cared especially for those suffering from Down syndrome. A strong defender of life, he devoted his entire life to research, trying to find a treatment for the disease.

On January 26, 1959, the discovery of the presence of an extra chromosome in the 21st pair within the cells of people with Down Syndrome, was published by Professor Lejeune and his colleagues Marthe Gautier and Raymond Turpin. This discovery established links between a state of intellectual deficit and a chromosomal aberration for the first time in the world. Professor Jérôme Lejeune’s research was seminal in the development of cytogenetics and modern genetics for which he was awarded the prestigious William Allen Prize in 1969.

With the discovery, Lejeune hoped to find a treatment for Down syndrome in order to lessen the cognitive deficit in his patients. But the scientific community chose to use his discovery for prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome in unborn babies and terminate them. Crushed by this, Professor Jérôme Lejeune fearlessly fought to defend the lives of the unborn. He used to say that "the quality of a civilization is measured by the respect it has for the weakest of its members."

Professor Jérôme Lejeune was appointed to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1974. In 1994, Pope St. John Paul II appointed him the first president of Pontifical Academy for Life. The academy's oath of the servants of life and bylaws were drafted by him. Succumbing to lung cancer, Professor Jérôme Lejeune died on April 3, 1994. The cause for his canonization was opened in Paris on June 28, 2007.