Science at UM [S01-ep04]: From Cancer Ecology to the Zoology Collection

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

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

We’ve all heard about dogs or cats that can detect cancer before the person has even noticed the slightest symptom. Magic? An animal’s sixth sense…? No, none of that—it took scientific discovery that tumor growth alters our body odor 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 the evolution of ecosystems.

Justine Boutry is a doctoral student at Mivegec, the research laboratory on infectious diseases and vectors: ecology, genetics, evolution, and control. Together with her team, she has focused her research on hydras, particularly tumorous hydras, and the interactions they have 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 half of the program, we’re staying in the animal kingdom as we take you to the Institute of Botany to explore the University of Montpellier’s zoology collection. Audrey Théron will be your guide for this first segment, which focuses on mammals.

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 and editing: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Director: Anna Demeulandre

Tune in to the show “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9

Keywords: Science at UM, Research, Health, Science