Prof. Peter Duesberg—Molecular Biologist par excellence. 2 December, 1936–13 January, 2026

Duesberg's detection of the segmentation of the influenza virus genome as a correlate of the high recombination and mutation rates of the influenza virus in 1968 [1] raised general attention.It was the prelude of his detection of viral oncogenes with Peter Vogt in 1970 [2].These studies were widely recognized for their importance and in 1971, age 34, he was elected scientist of the year in California and in 1986, age 49, a member of the US-Academy of Sciences.From 1985 to 1992