Ocean Environnement and Paleoenvironnement UMR

Oystersand the basinof Arcachon from every angle

“”

The Aquitaine oceanographiccentreThe purpose behind the project of an oceanographic centre inArcachon itself is to transform thecurrent Sea Resort, with its know-how centred around biology, intoan interdisciplinary centre of in -ter national stature bringing toge-ther biologists, physicists, che-mists or bio geochimists currentlyscattered around Arcachon, Ta -lence and Pau.

Ocean Environnements and PaleoenvironnementsUMRAquitaine Science and Universe ObservatoryUniversity Bordeaux 1 Science and TechnologyCNRSArcachon - ✆ 05 56 22 39 01www.epoc.u-bordeaux.fr

Existence of reference pointsThe research consortium coor di -nated by Bordeaux 1 is also on amission to further pinpoint the inte -raction between oysters and theirenvironment, paint a full pic ture ofcontamination levels in the basin ofArcachon (by notably de ve lopingnew sensors), and follow its longterm evolution with regard to globalwarming.

Initiative and financial supportThe Aquitaine Region finances35% of the 2.5 million euros nee-ded for the research programme,including 468000 € for equipe-ment. The remainder comes cour-tesy of national and internationalprogrammes.It also helps fi nan cethe soon to come oceanographiccentre by contributing 8millioneuros part and parcel of the StateRegion Project Contract (Contratde Projet État Région) 2007- 2013.

The year 2007 saw the creation of a national consortium bringingtogether 150 researchers, focusing its work on the study of oysters and

their natural environment. Around this work, the creation in Aquitaine of amultidisciplinary oceanographic centre in Arcachon itself is taking shape.

Platform for teaching and experimental research, it will lead to an integrated approach to sea ecosystems.

The Arcachon Sea Resortunder extensive changes

Ocean Environnement andPaleoenvironnement UMR[EPOC]

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Oysters are sometimes disconcerting. Inthe basin of Arcachon, one could be led to

believe that land related forms of pollution aswell as those linked to water sports are theroots of most of the evils striking the bivalvemollusc. However, this generally acceptedidea is regularly contradicted by ecotoxicolo-gic tests, with results pointing out that oystersfound inside the channels next to the ArguinBank, not those grown in the basin, are themost prone to various forms of contamination.This state of affairs has led biologists andhydrologists, approached by the RegionalCouncil on this issue, to focus their attentionon a new assumption: contamination would bethe work of microscopic organisms whose

specificity is to proliferate in complex hydro-dynamic structures featuring a little knownbiologic structure. Data collected in the Gulf of Gascony, along with modelling work, havealready led to the assumption that said micro-organisms could move from the Basque Coun-try up to the mouth of the basin due to theAdour river plume. How do they get there andhow do they propagate in the basin? These arethe questions that scientists are now attemp-ting to answer by using the Dinophysismicroalgae, one of the toxic microorganismsbest known by oyster farmers, as biologicalmodel. This promising work is one of the fivestages in the study carried out by the consor-tium of researchers.

MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2008

Epidemiology and Development Public Health Institute

Alzheimer : raising awareness on the pandemy”“

A 20-year support Very committed since launchingPAQUID (The Elderly QUID ?),twen ty years ago, the Region hasinvested approximately 1.5 mil-lion euros in the fight against Al zheimer’s disease. Fundamen-tal and clinical research is one ofthe mainstays of the much anti -cipated Neurocampus.

Epidemiologyand DevelopmentPublic Health InstituteVictor-Segalen UniversityBordeaux 2 Bordeaux - ✆ 05 57 57 13 93www.isped.u-bordeaux2.fr

In search of a vaccineTwo proteins present inside thebrain are responsible for this di -sease: Tau proteins present in neu -rons and Beta amyloid proteinsexisting in their peripheral tissues.Destro yed and then poorly re-syn-thesized by the body, they causethe death of neurons. In its questfor a vaccine, the team headed byprofessor Dartigues has decided to focus its re search work on thelatter, “amyloid cascade” proteins.

Inter-regional awareness raisingIn order to help the fight againstAlzheimer’s disease, the Aquitai-ne and Midi-Pyrénées Regionsare working on the developmentof a common centre regroupingthe strong points specific to each re gion : neuroscience and epide-miology for the former, geriatricsand lage-scale clinical tests for the latter.

In France, 850 000 people suffer from Alzhei-mer’s disease, with 220 000 new cases eve-

ry year. When published in 2005 by epidemio-logists in Aquitaine, both these fi gu res cameas a shock, leading to the creation of the 2008Alzheimer plan. The first figure, over twice ashigh as the number of cases collected bypublic health official sources, indicates thatthe disease is highly under-diagnosed, whe-reas the second, coupled with the increase inlife expectancy, shows that people at risk willbe on the up. These results were obtained byextrapolating from the PAQUID* survey carriedout in Gironde and Dordogne on a populationof 4 134 persons aged 65 in 1988 whose cere-bral ageing has been meticulouly observedsince that very year. In 2008, data collected

by way of this study also enabled a team ofneuropsychologists, clinicians, epidemiolo-gists and biostatisticians, headed by HélèneAmiéva to draw up a chronology on the appea-rance of symptoms related to the patient’s per-ception and that of his or her circle of friendsand family. Such work, never ever carried outanywhere in the world, and published in theprestigious journal the Annals of Neurology,should lead to improved prevention methods,more effec tive early detection but also identi-fying the disease’s evolution, and the mostfavourable stage to start treatment, notably theone during which the patient is aware of risks atstake whilst still being able to feel his or hercondition is improving.

Doctor, researcher in the field of neurology and professor in publichealth issues, Jean-François Dartigues, along with the teams

he co-ordinates, brings his know-how towards finding a solutionfor Alzheimer’s disease. The ageing process pathology which hedescribes as a family disease, since its effects are disconcerting

for the families and close friends of patients.

From epidemiology to neurology

Epidemiology and DevelopmentPublic Health Institute[ ISPED]

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*PAQUID : Personnes Âgées QUID?MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2008

Bordeaux Astrophysics Laboratory

Any life in our Galaxy? ”“

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Guiding telescopesModelling the atmosphere of habi-table planets, the work carried outby Franck Selsis is, among otherthings, used to, identify observa-tion criteria to be taken into accountfor the development of telescopessuch as the JWST, due to replaceHubble in 2013.

First surprisesThe first observations of exoplanetshave brought their share of surpri -ses, beginning with the existence ofhuge gaseous planets lying veryclose to their star. This configura-tion which was believed to be im -possible has helped clear up themystery around Jupiter’s formation,a distant planet which would havegradually moved closer to the sun.

A reactive approachThe Region wasted no time inheping research work carried byFranck Selsis. As soon as he arrivedin Bordeaux in 2008, the Regioncontributed 45000 € towards a postdoctorate position, which enabledthis prize-winning scientist, courte-sy of the Institut de France (Instituteof France), to begin his work evenbefore his project, highly rated bythe European Research Council, wasgranted its initial European funds.

Bordeaux AstrophysicsLaboratoryAquitaine Science and Universe ObservatoryCNRS University Bordeaux 1 Science and TechnologyFloirac - ✆ 05 57 77 61 00www.obs.u-bordeaux1.fr

For a long time, it was believed that Earth had remained uninhabitable due to lengthy

meteor bombing the intensity of which wouldhave diminished until the appearance of the firsttraces of life known to man, some 3.8 billionyears ago. It is now believed that this cataclysmwas a one-off and took place a long time afterEarth’s formation, some 4.5 billion years ago,and that it could have been preceded by a periodof peace and quiet covering over 500millionyears during the course of which life was born. A species surviving those meteor attacks, andwhich could be one of these organisms disco-vered at the bottom of oceans and able to live inextre me conditions, would cconsequently repre -sent the common root of our evolutionary tree.

Researchers working on the E3ARTHS program-me are studying this assump tion by attemptingto determine esential atmosphe ric and climaticconditions. To do so, Franck Selsis relies heavi-ly on the discovery and study of newly disco -vered planets in other solar systems. On Earth,life process and plate tectonics have erased alltraces of this long gone past and it may be easierto find elements for answers elsewhere in thegalaxy. This is why the search for observationcriteria for so-called habitable planets (with amass and distance with regard to the star leadingto the presence of surface water and conse-quently, the emergence of a life form) in thegalaxy’s other solar systems is also a matter ofpriority for the E3ARTHS programme.

Since 1995, approximately 300 planets have been discoveredbeyond the solar system. Astrophysicist Franck Selsis had

anticipated this leap in scientific knowledge and had started todevelop analysis tools combining the study of the atmosphere

of exoplanets and that of Earth itself. The E3ARTHS* Europeanprogramme should enable him to keep his lead.

Searching for exoplanets with aview to a better understanding

of the origins of life on Earth

Bordeaux AstrophysicsLaboratory [LAB]

*E3ARTHS : Exoplanets and Early Earth Atmospheric Research : THeories & SimulationMADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2008

Haut-Lévêque Hospital - Endocrinology and Diabetology Department

Diabetes:faith in nanomedicine“

”

First resultsAre the nanocapsules that make upnanogels effective when confrontedto the different physical and chemicalparameters present in the human bo -dy ? Are they sufficiently “hermetic”when sugar level is normal? Since ayear the project started, the long andmeticulous work carried out by che -mical engineers from the ENSCPB,has already brought promising ans-wers, and has the been the subject of two international publications.

Haut-Lévêque HospitalEndocrinology andDiabetology DepartmentPessac - ✆ 05 57 65 68 40www.chu-bordeaux.fr

The key to interdisciplinarityIt was the desire to assemble resear-ch teams who were never in contactwith one another which led to thetrails considered by the DELIVRERproject. The project featuring biosen-sors has thus brought together bioe-lectronics specialists from the IMS,pancreas cell specialists from IECB,and researchers from the pharmaco-cinetics and clinical pharmaceuticsLaboratory. In all, 7 partners (5 labo-ratories, a platform for biomedicalinnovation and a head of industry)have taken part in this project.

A closely supported projectVery much involved since the pro-ject started in 2005, the Regioncontinued its support in 2007 byfinancing 87 000 €, towards the pur-chase of scientific equipement,including doctorate work for threeyears and post- doctorate work fortwo years, for 82 000 € and 90 000 €respectively. The FEDER fundsamount to 260 000.

* DELivrance d’Insuline in Vivo Régulée et Rétrocontrôlée

Six times a day, before and after each meal, a patient suffering from diabetes must be

informed of his or her sugar level by pricking thetip of his or her fingers. Moreover, four times aday, the same patient, suffering from type 1 diabe -tes (insulin-dependent), must have insulin injec-tions, the hormone which his or her pancreas nolonger releases and is essential to the assimilationof sugar in the body. Since the day this diseasewas discovered, just over a century ago, insulintreatment is still carried out by way of injections.Several research programmes however lead us tobe lieve in the discovery of less exacting treatmentmethods. Since 2007, the DELIVRER* program-me, supported by the European authorities andco-ordinated by professor Bogdan Catargi, fo cu -ses its efforts on two major leads to be followed

and underlying a shared idea: associating fine glycaemia assimilation with insulin controlledrelease. The first lead to be followed is the deve-lopment of a nanogel made up of nanometric-sized capsules able to contain insulin moleculesand open -or shut - according to variations inblood sugar level. Once injected inside the body,the nanogel would be effective for over a week,thus bringing an end to multiple injections on a daily basis. The second lead to be followed, withthe help of pancreatic cells, aims to develop a bioelectronic sensor sensitive enough to act as a substitute for the use of injections in glycaemiacontrol. In the end, the sensor could be coupledwith a micro-electronic device controlling insulinrelease in the bloodstream.

At a time when the number of people suffering from diabetes all around the world is regularly increasing, injecting insulin remains

a highly restricting form of treament. Fully aware of this issue, the interdisciplinary team co-ordinated by professor Bogdan Catargi

has focused its attention on two original leads to be followed.

Two original leads to befollowed for the treatment

of diabetics

Haut-Lévêque HospitalEndocrinology and DiabetologyDepartment

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MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2008

Haut-Lévêque Hospital - Electrophysiology And cardiac Simulation Département

Improving medical treatment by mapping

heart cells“ ”

A laboratory to the rescueThe “Heart Lungs Vessels Throm-bosis” scientific community re -grou ped at the heart of the IFR 4will, in 2009, be complete with the opening of a fundamentalelectrophysiology laboratory atBordeaux 2 university. It will havea direct link with the clinical ele-trophysiology department, ena -bling it to extend the scope of thediscipline’s field of investigationand further improve the team’sinternational influence– the teamitself is made up of researchersfrom many nationalities–at theHaut Lévêque hospital.

Haut-Lévêque HospitalElectrophysiology and cardiac SimulationDépartement Pessac - ✆ 05 57 65 65 65www.chu-bordeaux.fr

Providing an explanation forunexplained sudden deathPreferably striking men in theirmid-30’s, unexplained sudden deathstrikes 40 000 people in Eu ropeevery year. In 2008, a full study ofelectrocardiograms of people ha -ving survived unexplained suddendeath has enabled the team headedby Michel Haissaguerre to solvepart of the mystery by identifying aspecific signal opening prospectsfor early detection and treatment.

Support from AquitaineThe Aquitaine Region supportsboth the development and tech -nology transfer of cardio-vascularimaging at the Xavier Arnozan Bio-medical Innovation TechnologyPlatform in the CPER 2000-2006and 2007-2013. Its help will beasked in the creation of the funda-mental electrophysiology labora-tory, which will notably equipedwith very high resolution “opticalmapping” systems.

On the monitor screen, three minute tubesmove around inside a slightly snowy grey

area, corresponding to he heart of a patientlying on the operating table. These are in factthree catheters controlled by the expert handof the surgeon, one Pierre Jaïs. One by one,they will burn the cells responsible for thepatient’s serious heart trouble. The latter hascome over specially from Canada to undergotreatment at the Haut-Lévêque hospital inPessac. He suffers from ventricular fibrillation,a bolting of ventricles, these two heart cham -bers essential to blood circulation inside thebody. This malfunctioning is lethal if electricshock therapy is not applied to the heart in thethree minutes following the onset of an attack.

Most subjets suffering from ventricular fibril -lation are struck from attacks far distant intime whereas others are struck by frequentattacks. As far as the former are concerned,implanting a pace ma ker/ de fi brillator unit isoften the solution. As far as the latter are con -cerned, their chances of survival were slimprior to the discovery by electrophysiologistsin Pessac of the implication of Purkinje cellsin the electric disorder leading to attacks, as well as a curative method leading to theiden ti fication and destruction of affected cells.A tailor-made operation, since localizing thesecells may considerably vary from one patientto the next. So-called incurable patients maythus go back to a normal life.

Twenty years of detailed observation have enabled the international team headed by professor Haissaguerre to

underline the electric sources – of an extremely localized nature – of atrial fibrillation, which is to say heart trouble

linked to the chaotic acceleration of heart auricles or ventricles and find new therapeutic solutions for them.

Electrophysiology at the heartof cardiology

Haut-Lévêque HospitalElectrophysiology and cardiac SimulationDépartement

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MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2008

The French National Institut for Research in Computer Science and Control

Maths to the rescuein the fight against cancer“ ”

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Modelling tumoursWorking with cancer specialistsfrom the Bergonié Institute, re -searchers from the MC2 teamhave modelled tumour develop-ment. The model is due for ap -pro val and doctors are alreadydreaming of inserting their pa -tients’ tests in oder to obtain realtime evolution forecasts.

The basic toolPartial derived equations are thebasic tools for modelling formsof interaction observed in com-plex fluids, simple fluids featu-ring obstacles, or between fluidsthemselves.

120 processorsThe platform developed by IMBand INRIA will feature a new cal-culating machine equiped with120 processors, with a 180000 €

cost, partly financed by the Aqui -taine Region.

The French NationalInstitut for Research in Computer Science and ControlResearch CenterBordeaux - South-WestÉquipe MC2 (IMB, University Bordeaux 1Science and Technology)Talence - ✆ 05 24 57 40 30 www.inria.fr/bordeaux

In the same way a landscape artist sums upwhat he or she sees with a touch of brushwork,

researchers from the MC2 team use equationsand algorithms to describe the discharge ofsimple fluids like air and water or so-called“complex” fluids like blood and other biologicalfluids and liquid products used in the agribusi-ness or chemical industry. The “complexity” of these types of fluids comes from the fact that they are loaded with micro-elements, suchas red corpsuscles, cells or polymers of a lessthan one millimetre size which keep on interac-ting on a chemical, biological and mechanicallevel. This vitality makes their behaviour diffi-cult to forecast. Since each fluid is different, allmodelling work calls for the understanding

and transfer into equations of specific forms of interaction which may however be commonto different categories of fluids. Hence the ideaof developing a platform handling the majorlaws of physics as well as previously distingui-sed forms of interaction leading to an alwaysquicker and more reliable analysis of newfluids. And in the end, with modelling work triedand tested on common situations, the chance of anticipating the system’s development byvarying chosen parameters. A prospect whichmedical research has not left aside, since it isvery difficult for the latter to carry out experi-ments on man and is also aware of the limits ofin vitro observation.

The MC2* team, featuring researchers from the Bordeaux South West Research Centre, is developing a platform featuring tools

used in mathematics and computing, aimed at modelling the behaviour of all sorts of fluids in a quick and reliable way.

Institut of Mathematics of Bordeaux (IMB) know-how brings theprospect of innovatory applications, notably in the field of medicine.

A platform for the analysis of fluids

The French Natioanl Institut for Research in ComputerScience and Control[ INRIA]

* MC2 : Modélisation, contrôle et calculMADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2008

From Prehistory to Today: Culture, Environment and Anthropology UMR

Progress for prehistory thanks to

the Moroccan mandible“ ”

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A winning campaignExploring the most ancient periodsin the history of man calls for fi -nan cial means and time. Supportby the Aquitaine Region to theexcavation work carried out in theThomas quarry contributed to thisdiscovery. Origine, the initial pro-ject, carried out between 2004 and2007, was thus granted a financialhelp of 269 000 €. As for the Ori-gi ne II project, in 2008, it wasgranted a financial help of100000 €, completed by researchallowan ces (thesis and post-doc-torate).

From Prehistory to Today:Culture, Environment and Anthropology UMRCNRS - University Bordeaux 1Science and TechnologyÉquipe IPGQTalence - ✆ 05 40 00 88 91www.pacea.u-bordeaux1.fr

AchuleanThe teams working on the “Ori-gins” programme give priority tothe exploration of strata datingback to 1.6 and 0.2 million years,Which is to say the period in Afri-ca during which a form of techni-cal culture appeared, characte -rized by the use of large chips ofsharp rocks and stones (“clea-vers” and “bifaces”).

A worldbeater for MoroccoMoroccan prehistory specialistsfrom the National Institute ofScien ce, Archeology and Heritageshared their excitement at the dis-covery of the finest ancient humanfossil discovered thanks to rigo-rous exca vation work carried out intheir homeland. As a result, theThomas quarry has become one ofthe major prehistoric sites in theMaghreb countries.

Discoveries may all be a case of hit or miss.Since May 2008, tired of chipping away

at rocks and stones with their chisels on a verytough surface they had been working on forseveral years, workmen at the Thomas quarry,located in the suburbs of Casablanca, asked if they could move on to another geologicallevel. Jean-Paul Raynal, co-ordinator for the“Origins” programme, had first agreed, butthen changed his mind. A few days later, amandible belonging to a Homo erectus wasdiscovered. Since the start of excavation workin 1988 and the discovery of half a mandibletwenty years earlier when the location used tobe a quarry, only four approximately 500 000year old human teeth had been discovered.The discovery of this mandible led to drawing

up the morphologic diversity of the Homoerectus group that lived in the far north-west of Africa, Homo mauritanicus, defined in 1954following remains discovered in Algeria. Evenbetter, the mandible discovered on the Thomasquarry was similar to the one discovered inAtapuerca, in the north of Spain. This opensa new theoretical outlook on the populating of the Iberian Peninsula. Does the EuropeanHomo erectus come from Asia as certain peo -ple claim, or from Africa via the Middle East, orelse did he find a shorter way via North Africa?Excavation work carried out in Auvergne,Ethiopia or Bulgaria on geological stratumsdating back to the same period will probablyenable Jean-Paul Raynal to bring other ele-ments to this answer.

With the coming of the first hominids, 7 million years ago and that of Homo sapiens some 200 000 years ago, the prehistoric age

is so long and the traces of this period so rare that each discoverybrings its share of revelations and theories. The Homo erectus

mandible excavated in Casablanca by a Franco-Moroccan team is no exception to the rule.

Science and patience:the keys to a discovery

From Prehistory to Today: Culture, Environment and Anthropology UMR[PACEA]

MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2008

François-Magendie Neurocentre

Foreign scientists attracted by the

vitalityof neuroscience in Aquitaine“

”

research for neurodegenerative di -seases such as Parkinson’s di seaseor Alzheimer’s disease.

Ultra-specific equipmentThe Aquitaine Region intends to en -courage a promising start for re -search work carried out by talentedyoung researchers recently new tothe region, among them Daniela andAndreas. In this respect, it con tri bu -tes to the purchase of highly sophis-ticated equipment (a 400000€con -tribution in 2008) and also lends ahand to the organization and run-ning of research teams (a 200 000 €contribution).

François-MagendieNeurocentreINSERMBordeaux - ✆ 05 57 57 36 00http://mcst.free.fr

The fragile X syndromeThis refers to the Fmrl, a genefound in chromosome X, with aform of malfunction notably lea-ding to cognitive and hypersen -sitivity disorder as well as autism.This gene is however involved inexchange regulation betweenneurons and its dendrites. An -dreas Frick hopes that his workwill both lead to a better unders-tanding of a normal operatingmodel and therapeutic solutions.

Looking ahead to NeurocampusInitiated by the Regional Council,with Bordeaux 2 University, Insermand the CHU as partners, the Neu-rocampus project aims to equip theAquitaine region with a scientificand residential estate dedicated toneuroscience, relying on the inter-national impact of the scientificcommunity. It will bring togetherthree new research centres, one ofwhich will be dedicated to treatment

Young and talented researchers, DanielaCota and Andreas Frick both used to live

in the United States not so long ago. Ready toopen a laboratory, they were both looking foran opportunity to return to Europe. The prere-quisite for their return was obtaining a budget,equipement and sufficient qualified staff nee-ded to continue their groundbreaking work.Among proposals coming from Italy, Germany,England or France, they finally opted for theone emanating from the Magendie Neuro -centre which won them over both because ofthe financial means at disposal and the optionsof an interdisciplinary nature on offer. As awoman doctor who unintentionnaly venturedinto the field of research work, Daniela Cotaworks on how brain cells are involved in theexistence of obesity and the various examples

of pathology that go with it: type 2 diabetes andcardio-vascular diseases. Amongst the oppor-tunities offered by the Institute, she particular-ly appreciated the interface contract (quest fortherapeutic applications with regard to funda-mental research) enabling her to share hypo-theses and data with a group of doctors fromthe Bordeaux hospitals. The biologist AndreasFrick, who has made considerable headway on the study of neuronal wiring inside the neo-cortex, the outer layer of the cerebral hemis-pheres involved in the perception of languageor memory, notably works on the way howdendrites, the branched projections at theextremity of neurons – not just synapses anymore, are able to modify their contact points.Andréas, for one, was highly impressed by thevitality of the Institute and its researchers.

She is an Italian doctor interested in the hypothalamus in order tounderstand the causes of obesity. He is a German biologist studying

the fragile X syndrome in order to understand how neuronal wiringoperates inside the neocortex. They have both decided to set up their laboratory inside Inserm’s François Magendie neurocentre.

Financial means and an attractive scientific

environment

François-MagendieNeurocentre

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MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2008

Molecular Science Institute

Learning how to talk to molecules“ ”

The therapeutic pathThe COMMOTION programmealso wishes to explore the interac-tive possibilities of its informationsystem with the biological processin order to bring reliable and quickmedical diagnoses but also leadto in vivo treatment – by, for exam -ple, controlling the behaviour of acellular membrane with light.

Light and its assetsThe properties of light enable it toenvisage highly efficient informa-tion systems. On the one hand, withthe help of today’s lasers, signalemission lasting several millionnanoseconds has now been achie-ved for some years, and on the otherhand the breakdown of its spectruminto multiple wavelengths enablesthe simultaneous transfer of severalmessages.

From head to toeIn order to be fully operational, theCOMMOTION programme, held inhigh esteem by the European Re -search Council, is dependent onextremely fine photophysics toolsused, for example, to measure thefading of fluorescence in the sur-rounding infrared. The AquitaineRegion has contributed 390 000 €towards the purchase of such equi-pement as well as a thesis grant(95000 € over a 3-year period).

Molecular Science InstituteCNRS - University Bordeaux 1Science and TechnologyTalence - ✆ 05 40 00 33 21www.ism.u-bordeaux1.fr

The idea developed by COMMOTION is partof the acknowledgement that in certain

parts of the human body, such as the eye, a stimulus by light may give rise to a transfer ofinformation to the brain thanks to communica-tion between molecular systems. It is a knownfact that conveying information between mole-cules, by electron transfer or electro-magneticcoupling can today be achieved. Yet thesemethods seem to have reached their limit. Inthe case of electrons one can, for example, wit-ness an energy loss leading to a rapid weake-ning of signals. Researchers from the Néoteam have borrowed the concept of stimulusby light from nature and developed strategiesfor the transport of information: a luminous

signal aimed at a specific molecule leads to the ejection of an ion travelling from one mo -lecule to the next. The ion acts as messengerand its transmission does not lead to conside-rable energy loss. This trick used by the humanbo dy, as is the case with large molecules, maybe incredibly miniaturized thanks to the head-way made by chemical engineering and itsinventory of polymers, nanocapsules andnanotubes. Thanks also to laser performancewhich may now illuminate minute-sizedbodies. Beyond mere data transport, resear-chers strive to create interactive networkssimilar to basic microprocessors, whilst beingable to operate in biological circles.

If the 20th century belonged to the electron and electronics, the 21st century may belong to the photon. Nathan McClenaghan,host of the COMMOTION* European project at the heart of Molecular

Science Institut’s Néo team casts no doubt on this: thanks to stimulation by light, nanoscopic-sized molecules

will be used to convey information.

A language stimulated by light

Molecular Science Institute[ ISM]

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*COMMOTION : Communication Between Functional Molecules Using Photocontrolled IonsMADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2008

Atomic energy commissionership - Aquitaine scientific and technical research centre

7 million billion watts for controlled nuclear fusion ”

“

Project management As project contracting manager, theAquitaine Region has committeditself support the PETAL towards a global operating budget costing50million euros. The opening pha-se was successfully completed in2008, and the project will be opera-tional around the year 2012.

Atomic energy commissionership Aquitaine scientific and technical research centreF-33114 Le Barp www.cea.fr

Inertial confinement fusionThe LIL’s experiment chamber re -sembles a Sputnik: a big metalball covered with knobs lookinglike windows. Inside it, a 500 mi -cron plastic shell on which the la ser will release enough energyto vaporize it. Vaporization is usedto generate substantial pressureon the container, light atoms forfusion purpo ses.

The HiPER projectAquitaine’s Petawatt laser is part ofthe HiPER European project, withthe objective of achieving control-led nuclear fusion through inertialconfinement (destined to produceenergy without emitting long las-ting radioactive waste) by using an association similar to that of the LIL and PETAL, the power of the latter acting as a match startingfusion mechanisms. Experimentscarried out on PETAL will lead to si -zing of HiPER equipment, due forcompletion around the year 2020.

150 metres long and plunged in acontrolled environment, the buil-

ding hosting the soon to come PETAL laser isalready with us: it today hosts the Laser Inte-gration Line (Ligne d’Intégration Laser) alsoknown as LIL (an eight luminous beam laser,prototype of a 240 intense energy laser beam,the Megajoule laser). Nothing is wasted whenit comes to lasers. Be it field experience, orequip ment. The PETAL, featuring just onebeam, will be set up next to the LIL and with itsspatial, spectral and temporal specificationsfinally set, will benefit from the same line ofoptical equipment destined to load the lumi-nous signal with energy and then focus on a target confined inside a microsphere of thesize a fraction of millimetres. The specificity

of the PETAL laser is its luminous impulse,10 000 times shorter than that of LIL, increa-sing its power in the same ratio and calling forspecific equipement upstream and downs-tream of the laser amplification chain – which,would otherwise be destroyed. The impulse isthus artificially stretched out and, just beforehitting its target, is compressed once again.The major avantage of being close to the LIL is that the nine beams will operate simulta-neously in order to create extreme pressureand temperature conditions similar to thoseneeded to activate controlled nuclear fusion.Beyond this energy Graal, models used inastrophysics, geophysics and fundamentalphysics will be tested by researchers.

In 2012, when the CEA (Atomic Energy Commissionership) will havecompleted the PETAL mono laser beam (PETawatt Aquitaine Laser)

the latter will be able to focus on a micron-size target with seven -petawatts of power, which is to say seven million billion high energywatts. Seven times more than today’s most high-performance tool !

The most powerful high energy laser beam

in the world

Atomic energy commissionership [CEA - Cesta ]

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MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2008