Mirko Beljanski

Mirko Beljanski (1923–1998) was a French-Serbian molecular biologist, and the founder of the Beljanski Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on researching beneficial plant extracts for the treatment of cancer.^[1] His later work on HIV and cancer was controversial.

Career

Beljanski was born in 1923 in Yugoslavia. He came to France to study, and lived there for the rest of his life.^[2] He was married to Monique.^[3] He received a PhD in 1948 from the University of Paris.^[2] In 1948, he entered the CNRS and worked at the Pasteur Institute in Paris as a researcher in molecular biology.^[4] He made several discoveries while studying RNA and DNA. Beljanski was made to leave the Pasteur Institute in 1978, after pursuing research against the advice of the institute, but still continued to publish scientific papers.^[2] He was at the Faculty of Pharmacy of Châtenay-Malabry until his retirement in 1988.^[2] In his lifetime, Beljanski published a total of 133 scientific papers^[5], mostly written in French.^[6] After his retirement he worked ten more years in a private laboratory. During that time, he developed natural products that are said to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.^{[citation needed]} He also developed a preparation of RNA fragments that was claimed to promote the production of white blood cells and platelets.^{[citation needed]}

Beljanski believed he had found antivirals effective against cancer and AIDS.^[4] A product made from extracts of the Brazilian paopereira tree^[2] and called PB100 was claimed to be superior to AZT, which Beljanksi called "real poison".^[3] He prescribed his therapies without authorisation (blaming "lobbyists" from Pasteur, Mérieux and Wellcome for this lack of approval),^[3] and required that patients stopped their traditional therapies. He marketed the products to patients directly via an organisation called Cobra (Centre oncologique et biologique et de recherche appliquée), that required "recommended donations" averaging 3,000 francs per month. Cobra was run by Peter Silvestri, a convicted fraudster, and when Cobra collapsed it was replaced by CCS and Ciris. Customers included Francois Mitterrand (via a homeopath called Philippe de Kuyper).^[2][3] The ANRS (Agence nationale de recherche contre le sida) tested his products and said they had no effect on HIV.^[2] The French Department of Health accused him of illegally practising medicine in 1991, and he was sentenced in March 1994.^[4]

Beljanski Foundation

The Beljanski foundation and CIRIS^[7], French not-for-profit organizations work together to promote knowledge about Mirko Beljanski's research. They also provided financial support for ongoing research both preclinical and clinical.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ http://www.beljanski.com/eng/Home/Foundation_mission.html
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "L'Etrange cas du professeur Beljanski" (in French). Le Point. 26 January 2007. http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-societe/2007-01-26/l-etrange-cas-du-professeur-beljanski/920/0/100853. Retrieved 11 August 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Mirko Beljanski: Je préfère me mettre dans l'illégalité" (in French). L'Humanité. 5 October 1993. http://www.humanite.fr/1993-10-05_Articles_-Mirko-Beljanski-Je-prefere-me-mettre-dans-l-illegalite. Retrieved 11 August 2010. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ ^{a b c} Kouchner, Annie (20 January 1996). "14 ans d'intrigues à l'Élysée" (in French). Le Point. http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-politique/1996-01-20/faux-bulletins-de-sante-luttes-intestines-14-ans-d-intrigues-a-l-elysee/917/0/101954. Retrieved 11 August 2010. 
5. ^ http://www.beljanski.com/eng/beljanski/133%20publications.html
6. ^ http://www.mbschachter.com/mirko_beljanski1.htm
7. ^ http://www.beljanski.com/

External links

• Beljanski Foundation
• An article about Beljanski's work and life
• Publications on PubMed

Persondata
Name	Beljanski, Mirko
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1923
Place of birth
Date of death	1998
Place of death