Rouages: “Supporting the Development of Projects in the Life Sciences”
Pascal Verdié is a research engineer and head of the chemistry platform Synbio3 platform, which specializes in the synthesis of peptides and polymers and is affiliated with the Max Mousseron Institute of Biomolecules. He supports scientists in their research projects and trains students in synthesis techniques. It’s a job he loves, and he talks about it in *Rouages*, the video series produced by the University of Montpellier. Action!
Balard Chemistry Center. In these long hallways where everything seems the same, every door holds a mystery and a host of questions. How can you tell if this room houses a colony of indestructible arthropods or the biomaterial of the future? As the morning draws to a close, Pascal Verdié, his eyes sparkling, reveals his own treasure to us, hidden inside a refrigerated cabinet: 4,000 compounds that have been synthesized, characterized, and used for biological testing. “They’re all labeled with a barcode, all the result of the team’s work over the past thirty years.”
Molecular balance
This team is from the Max Mousseron Institute of Biomolecules and Synbio3, the platform affiliated with it, which is headed by Pascal Verdié. The on-camera interview is over, and although he handled it brilliantly, the engineer’s relief is palpable as he shows us around his little world.“Here you have a liquid chromatography system coupled with mass spectrometry. It allows us to detect and quantify all the natural or synthetic molecules we’ll be working with. ” A skilled communicator, he explains that mass spectrometry works“like a scale; we’ll be able to determine the molecular mass of the sample we’re preparing and thus know whether what we’re expecting is present or not.”
Whether they are researchers, doctoral researchers even industrial doctoral researchers , many turn to the Synbio3 platform to synthesize or purify molecules, whether peptides or polymers.“This device, for example, is used for about 20,000 analyses annually. Translating the needs of our partners and collaborators into services is part of my role. Our goal is to provide them with a custom-made biomolecular compound.” In this role, Pascal Verdié is supported by nine other engineers, two work-study students, and student interns. Contract employees may also join them on more ad hoc projects.“This platform brings together professionals, expertise, and equipment to support the development of projects in the life sciences.”
At the border
Next room: amid fume hoods and lab benches, female students in lab coats and safety goggles are busy working on their test tubes and take the opportunity to see Pascal Verdié to ask for advice or share an observation.“A large part of my work is dedicated to training. We help them collect their data and teach them how to use the equipment.” Every year, about fifty students learn here the various techniques for peptide synthesis and spectrophotometric methods to study the effects of molecules on materials or cells.“I help train the researchers of tomorrow; I support doctoral students in their projects and help them grow scientifically. It’s a profession where you share a lot of knowledge—and where you learn a great deal, too.”
The engineer takes the quality of this knowledge transfer very seriously, as evidenced by the various certification initiatives that this native of Montpellier has led and continues to lead since the platform’s launch in 2007 alongsideProfessor Subra. “We obtained the Ibisa (Infrastructures in Biology, Health, and Agronomy)certification in 2013, a very important milestone for us.”Since then, Synbio3 has joined the ChemBioFrance network and is pursuing ISO 9001 quality certification to professionalize its operations. This is another facet of Pascal Verdié’s multifaceted career.“My work lies at the intersection of several fields: chemistry, biology, engineering, and the sciences. The team likes to compare me to Chandler Bingfrom the TV series *Friends*, because, like him, no one ever really knows what I do.”