A l'UM la science [S02-ep02] : From the epitranscriptome to the cancer exhibition

This week on A l'UM la science, Alexandre David, a biologist at theIGF, and Eric Rivals, a bioinformatician at the Lirmm, discuss an innovative cancer diagnosis method based on the epitranscriptome. For the report, we head for the Lirmm robotics department, and at the end of the program, Catherine Alix Panabière from the LCCRH talks about the Cancer exhibition.

Our story of the day is a perfect illustration of the benefits of collaboration and interdisciplinarity, as it brings together a biologist, a biochemist and a bioinformatician to work on the same project. Their challenge: to work towards better cancer management thanks to a new diagnostic and prognostic method. Their challenge? By looking at the landscape, but not just any landscape. The epitranscriptomic landscape.

Instead of binoculars, they used spectrometers and a few ram of RAM. Their study was the subject of an acclaimed publication in the journal Analytical Chemistry. Joining us in the studio are Alexandre David, researcher at the Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle(IGF) in Montpellier, and Eric Rivals, researcher at the Laboratoire d'Informatique et de Robotique et de Microélectronique de Montpellier(Lirmm). Christophe Hirtz, the third member of the trio, is not with us, but he has made a major contribution to the success of this project thanks to the Montpellier clinical proteomics platform(PPC), to which we devoted a report in 2020.

In the second half of the show, we continue our exploration of Lirmm, Montpellier's computer science, robotics and microelectronics laboratory, on the occasion of its 30th anniversary. This week, Robin Passama and Benjamin Navarro introduce us to the robotics department.

Collaborative robot or cobot designed to assist man. Here, the cobot is used to pick oranges by detecting them with a camera, then cuts them with a pruning shear and collects them in a basket.

Finally, Catherine Alix Panabière, Director of the Laboratoire des cellules circulantes rares humaines(LCCRH ) and a practitioner at the CHU, will talk about the Cancers exhibition, on view from September 4 to August 8, 2023 at the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie.

At UM la science you've got the program, here we go!

Coproduction : Divergence FM / Université de Montpellier
Animation : Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview : Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reportage : Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Editing : Lucie Lecherbonnier
Production : Adeline Floc'h

Listen to the program "A l'UM la science" on Divergence FM 93.9