Science at UM [S02-ep02]: From the Epitranscriptome to the Cancer Exhibition
This week on *A l’UM la science*, we’re talking with Alexandre David, a biologist atthe IGF, and Eric Rivals, a bioinformatician at the LIRMM, about an innovative method for diagnosing cancer based on the epitranscriptome. For our report, we head to the robotics department at the LIRMM, and at the end of the show, Catherine Alix Panabière from the LCCRH will talk to us about the *Cancer* exhibition.
Today’s story perfectly illustrates the benefits of collaboration and interdisciplinarity, as it brings together a biologist, a biochemist, and a bioinformatician on a single project. Their challenge: to improve cancer care through a new diagnostic and prognostic method. How? By looking at the landscape—but not just any landscape. The epitranscriptomic landscape.
To do this, they didn’t use binoculars, but rather spectrometers and a few RAM modules. Their study was the subject of a highly acclaimed publication in the journal *Analytical Chemistry*. Joining us in the studio are Alexandre David, a researcher at the Institute of Functional Genomics (IGF) in Montpellier, and Eric Rivals, a researcher at the Montpellier Laboratory of Computer Science, Robotics, and Microelectronics (LIRMM). Christophe Hirtz, the third member of the trio, is not with us, but he contributed significantly to the success of this project through the Montpellier Clinical Proteomics Platform (PPC), which we featured in a report in 2020.
In the second half of the program, we continue our exploration of LIRMM, Montpellier’s laboratory for computer science, robotics, and microelectronics, as it celebrates its 30th anniversary. This week, Robin Passama and Benjamin Navarro give us a tour of the robotics department.
A collaborative robot, or cobot, designed to assist humans. In this case, the cobot is used to pick oranges by detecting them with a camera, then cutting them with pruning shears and placing them in a basket.
Finally, Catherine Alix Panabière, director of the Laboratory for Rare Circulating Human Cells (LCCRH) and a physician at the University Hospital, will talk to us about the exhibition “Cancers, ” which has been on view since September 4 and will run through August 8, 2023, at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie.
At UM Science, you’ve got the program—let’s get started!
Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reporting: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Editing : Lucie Lecherbonnier
Director: Adeline Floc’h
Tune in to the show “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9
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