Science at UM [S01-ep15]: From research on aniridia to the gravimeter
This week, Frédéric Michon, Inserm researcher at the Montpellier Institute of Neuroscience and winner of the Groupama Prize, talks to us about his work on aniridia. In the second part, Nicolas Lemoigne introduces us to the Geosciences gravimeter.
As you know, rare things are expensive! This is true in markets as well as in healthcare, and research into rare diseases often struggles to find the funding needed to bring solutions to patients. In France, a disease is considered rare when it affects no more than 30,000 people, or less than one in 2,000. To date, 7,000 rare diseases have been identified and catalogued. For 80% of them, the cause can be found directly in our genome. An estimated 3 million people are directly affected in France and 25 million in Europe. Because they are so rare, these diseases often take years to diagnose, and in most cases, there are simply no treatments available.
This is a situation that is unfortunately all too familiar to people suffering from aniridia, a rare disease that affects the eye and can eventually lead to corneal blindness. These patients may well have reason to hope again thanks to the work of our guest. Frédéric Michon is a researcher at the Montpellier Institute of Neuroscience and has just been awarded the Groupama Prize for research into rare diseases for his work on aniridia.
Read:
Frédéric Michon, winner of the 2022 Rare Diseases Research Award
In the second part of the program, we meet Nicolas Lemoigne. He is a research engineer at the CNRS, at the Montpellier Geosciences Laboratory, where he works on gravimetric instrumentation. We follow him to the basement of the laboratory, where the gravimeter, an instrument that measures gravity, is well protected from external vibrations.
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
Reporting: Aline Périault
Editing: Bruno Bertrand
Production: Anna Demeulandre
Listen to the program “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9
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