Science at UM [S01-ep04]: From cancer ecology to zoology collections

[Podcast] - Published on November 19, 2021 in Heritage, Science-Society

This week, Justine Boutry, a doctoral student at Mivegec, talks to us about the influence of cancer on interspecies interactions and the evolution of ecosystems. In the second part of the program, Audrey Théron introduces us to the mammals in the zoology collection.

We have all heard about dogs or cats that can detect cancer before the person affected even experiences any symptoms. Magic? Animal intuition? No, none of that. It took discovering that tumor processes alter our body odors to understand how our four-legged friends can sniff out the disease.

Today, evolutionary ecology sheds new light on these tumor processes and their influence on interspecies interactions and ecosystem evolution.

Justine Boutry is a doctoral student at Mivegec, the research laboratory for infectious diseases and vectors: ecology, genetics, evolution, and control. Together with her team, she has focused her research on hydras, particularly tumor hydras, and their interactions with their prey, predators, and commensals. The results of this study were published last September in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

In the second part of the program, we remain in the animal world as we take you to the Institute of Botany to discover the zoology collection of the University of Montpellier. Audrey Théron will be your guide for this first part devoted to mammals.

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 and editing: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Production: Anna Demeulandre

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

Keywords: Science at UM, Research, Health, Science