Science at UM [S03-ep26]: 60 billion combinations of genetic variants

[Podcast] - Published on May 16, 2024 in Science-Society

This week on A l’UM la science, Gabriel Krouk, biologist atIPSIM, and Andre Mas, mathematician atIMAG, talk to us about a world first: mapping the interactions between genetic variants in a plant. Caroline Ducourau, head of heritage management, is our last-minute guest. She presents the exhibition Chongquing, sur les 4 rives du temps qui passe(Chongquing, on the four banks of passing time) by Cyrus Cornut, on display at the Orangerie du Jardin des Plantes. A program co-produced with Divergence FM and broadcast every Wednesday at 6 p.m. on 93.9.

Since the introduction of the concept of genes and the laws of heredity in 1865, through the discovery of the structure of DNA by Rosalind Franklin, Watson, and Crick in 1953, to the achievements of modern genomics, genetic research has never been able to shake off the fantasies it conjures up in the minds of the general public. From Gattaca to Equilibrium in cinema, and Orwell and Huxley in literature, dystopias projecting humans into a eugenic society have continued to fuel our imaginations.

Paradoxically, in recent years, American companies such as Myheritage and 23andme have been popping up online, offering to provide a detailed breakdown of your ethnic origins based on DNA analysis or to reveal your own future by predicting diseases hidden in the folds of your genes. "Really, you can do that?" Yes, you can, and today we won't explain why this recreational use of DNA is not medicine or how your data is at risk of being resold or hacked. However, we will explain how scientists can search through our DNA markers to predict our diseases or trace our origins.

Even better! Our guests today will explain how they managed to develop, using plant DNA, a method combining mathematics, genetics, and high-performance computing to create maps bringing together tens of billions of interactions between genetic variants for a specific trait. This is a world first, published in the journal Genome Biology on March 25.

In the studio with Gabriel Krouk, researcher at the Montpellier Institute of Plant Sciences, and Andre Mas, researcher at the Montpellier Alexander Grothendick Institute.

Our guest for the last three minutes will be Caroline Ducoureau, head of heritage and scientific culture, who will present the latest exhibition on display at the Jardin des Plantes until May 26, Chongquing, sur les 4 rives du temps qui passe (Chongqing , on the four banks of passing time ) by Cyrus Cornut, which can be seen until May 26 as part of the Boutographies photography festival.

At UM Science, you have the program, so let's get started!

Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Production: Alice Rollé / Tom Chevallier

Listen to the program “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9

Keywords: Science at UM, Research, Science, Company