nanotechnology updateprofile serge haroche 2009 cnrs gold medal nanotechnology update cnrs photo and...

advancing the frontiers

N°16quarterly jaNuary 2010

profile

Serge Haroche 2009 CNRS Gold Medal

nanotechnologyupdate

CNRS Photo and Video databases now in English The CNRS photo and video libraries provide open access to a wide range of scientific pictures (18,000) and films* (1400). Guests and registered users can access a search engine in English, or browse through the thematicselections on the home page.*over 200 in English.

Photos and DVDs can be ordered online. PHOTO LIBRARY

Ô http://phototheque.cnrs.fr/indexL02.html VIDEO LIBRARY

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CONTENTS 3

CNRSIInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall MMaaggaazziinnee

Trimestriel - Janvier 20101 place Aristide BriandF-92195 Meudon CedexTelephone: +33 (0)1 45 07 53 75Fax: +33 (0)1 45 07 56 68Email: [email protected]: www.cnrs.frCNRS (headquarters)3 rue Michel AngeF-75794 Paris cedex 16

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Translation Manager:Aimée Lahaussois (CNRS)Copy Editor:Saman MusacchioGraphic Design:Céline HeinSarah LandelIconography:Marie Gandois (CNRS)Cover Illustration:© S.Swartz/ Fotolia.com, 2009Michelin, LK Trading CO, LOOK CYCLEINTERNATIONAL 2009, 2009 NikonCorporation, 2009 Apple Inc. All rightsreserved, Science Museum/Scienceand Society, HERBOL-SYMBIOTEC,Orca, © C.LEBEDINSKY/CNRSPhotothèquePhotoengraving:PLB Communication - F- 94276 Le Kremlin-BicêtrePrinting:Imprimerie Didier Mary6, rue de la Ferté-sous-JouarreF-77440 Mary-sur-Marne

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All rights reserved. Partial or full reproductionof articles or illustrations is strictly prohibitedwithout prior written permission from CNRS.

CNRS International Magazine n° 16 January 2010

> FOREIGN PARTNER 31NaBi LEA France and Israel join forces innanobioscience.

> THEY CHOSE FRANCE 32Chretien MoonenDeveloping new ways to fightcancer.

INNOVATION 34Peptide-based drugs, Learningfrom marine organisms, and Fastand cheap gas analysis.

CNRS NEWSWIRE 36 The European Space Observatory,Monitoring air traffic, The mostpowerful NMR spectrometer, andInternational collaborations.

FRENCH RESEARCH NEWS 4Structural reform at CNRS, MichelSpiro heads CERN Council.

LIVE FROM THE LABS

AROUND THE WORLD> SPOTLIGHT 6On Electrons and SolidsCelebrating 50 years of researchat the LPS.

> NEWS 8Surviving an extinction crisis, A green answer to heavy metal,Melanopsin, Cellular biology on achip, Isotopic stopwatch, Earth’sgood vibrations, Stem cells,Memory and sleep, Largestdinosaur footprints uncovered.

> ON LOCATION 15Uncharted TerritoryExploring the Cordillera Darwin.

> PROFILE 16Serge Haroche2009 CNRS Gold Medal.

COVER STORY18

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NANO-TECHNO-

LOGYUPDATE

> The latest advances in the field, including: precision drugs, nanolight, optics, carbon nanotubes, greennanomaterials, electronics, nanohorns, and nano-biological probes.

contentscontents

CNRS is undergoing a major structural overhaul, inline with the new national guidelines on Frenchscientific research. Eight institutes have been createdto replace the organization’s eight existingdepartments, bringing the total number of CNRSinstitutes to ten (see inset).

They will be endowed with more autonomy andflexibility than the former scientific departments.

They will also take on new tasks. Besides runningthe laboratories, which the departments also handled,they will act as funding agencies for targetedthematic and/or multidisciplinary programs.

These changes are being implemented inthe context of a general reform of the Frenchresearch sector.

Over the past five years, the Frenchgovernment has created the ANR,1 in charge of funding research projects; launched theAERES,2 an evaluation agency for highereducation and research; and implemented a major reform aimed at giving universitiesmore autonomy.

Once universities become autonomous, thecoordination and integration of research across thecountry will become the responsibility of institutionslike CNRS. This is likely to give the institution greaterinfluence and responsibility for exploring new avenuesof research.

1. Agence nationale de la recherche. www.agence-nationale-recherche.fr/Intl2. Agence d’évaluation de la recherche et de l’enseignement supérieur. www.aeres-evaluation.fr/

This is the number of patents filed by CNRS between July2008 and June 2009, compared to 284 for the previous 12months. Forty-four percent of these new patents are

already being exploited. In total, CNRS expects to receive €56 billion in royalties for2009. CNRS is one of the ten public research organizations filing the most patents inthe US, an important first for a European organization.

Currently director of CNRS’ National Institute of Nuclear and ParticlePhysics (IN2P3), Michel Spiro has been elected president of the Cern Council,the European organization for nuclear research. “This is a great honor,” he

said. “I will become the Council’s 20th president, with theimportant responsibility of following in the footsteps of myillustrious predecessors. I will directly succeed ProfessorAkesson, who has made the Council evolve significantlyover the past few years. Given the first results of the LargeHadron Collider (LHC), the future promises to be veryexciting. Discoveries made at LHC will be the ones thatshape the future of particle physics in the world, and henceof CERN and its operations.”

Michel Spiro New President of the Cern Council

FRENCHRESEARCHNEWS4


Ô Reorganization

Structural Reform at CNRS

Death of Claude Lévi-Strauss

The ethnologistand anthropologistClaude Lévi-Straussdied on October 31st atthe age of 100. Anemblematic figure ofthese two disciplinesand CNRS GoldMedalist in 1967, he

established the Laboratoire d’anthropologiesociale1 in Paris. Author of over 20 publicationsincluding the well-known Tristes Tropiques,Lévi-Strauss is considered to be the father ofmodern anthropology. His essays were basedon his ethnographic missions in the Amazonduring the 1930s. According to anthropologistFrédéric Keck, “his work has inspired the greatest studies in humanities: those of Foucault, Deleuze, and Bourdieu. It has had an outstandinginternational influence, with no equivalent in modern French thinking.”

1. CNRS / Collège de France / EHESS.

The Ten CNRS Institutes* Institute of Chemistry (INC)* Institute of Ecology and Environment (INEE)* Institute of Physics (INP)* Institute of Biological Sciences (INSB) * Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (INSHS)* Institute for Computer Sciences (INS2I)* Institute for Engineering and Systems Sciences (INSIS)* Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INSMI) * National Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics (IN2P3)* National Institute for Earth Sciences and Astronomy (INSU)

For more information: www.cnrs.fr/en/aboutCNRS/institutes.htm

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Nanoscience and nanotechnology aim to create,

control, and above all, use objects or sets of

objects of extremely small size—close to the

atomic or molecular scale. At this scale, matter

presents novel properties that can be used for a

host of new applications. While in general nanoscience mostly

focuses on the knowledge we can obtain from such systems,

nanotechnology is centered on their applications in industrial

or medical fields.

Though often believed to have resulted from a sudden

revolution, the field has in fact evolved over decades. And

during those years, important discoveries paved the way for

today’s scientific advances: major breakthroughs in

instrumentation, manipulation at the atomic level, together

with continuous progress in surface science, colloids,

interfaces, aggregates and more generally new findings in

materials science. To these can be added miniaturization in

micro- and nanoelectronics, the manufacturing of micro- and

nanosystems, and the field’s increasing importance to biology.

The creation of the American NNI (National Nanotechnol-

ogy Initiative) in the year 2000 played an important role in

pushing research towards more technological applications. By

stressing this emerging field’s vast potential for innovation,

the NNI implied that nanotechnology was key to economic

development in the 21st century. Truly interdisciplinary,

nanoscience and nanotechnology carry a major potential for

innovations to address the many issues facing today’s society:

health (by creating better medical applications), information

and communication technologies, sustainable development

and the environment, or energy production and storage, to

name but a few.

In this context, CNRS is a major player in the field, as

illustrated by the 2007 Nobel Prize laureate Albert Fert. Its

strategy, centered around scientific creativity and innovation,

benefits from its interdisciplinarity, which is essential to

developments in nanoscience and nanotechnology. With close

to 5000 researchers involved in the field, spread across

intramural or joint laboratories, 7 large technological facilities

and 9 local facilities shared by several laboratories, CNRS is

one of the largest contributors to French research in

nanoscience.

France’s coordination in nanoscience has been bolstered

by the creation of six competence centers—called

“C’Nanos”—which form a support network for the scientific

community on a national scale. The ANR—France’s research

funding agency—continues to play an important role by

financing and supporting projects in the discipline. A recently

launched government program in nanoscience research—

”Nano-Inov”—is dedicated to boosting industrial innovation

and transfer via three “integration” centers (Grenoble, Saclay,

and Toulouse).

But nanoscience and nanotechnology have also raised public

concern. A responsible approach within the field requires

scientists to work diligently, in terms of traceability, ethics, and

public information. As a major European interdisciplinary

institution, CNRS must play a leading role in safeguarding these

ethics, and anticipating the far-reaching consequences of such

research. In this context, it has recently created the Strategic

Unit for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, which will not only

promote and develop nanoscience research, but also assess and

examine all the relevant ethical issues associated.


5editorialeditorialEDITORIAL

Michel LannooCNRS advisor for nanoscienceand nanotechnology.

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It looks much like any other control room: twocomputers, a panel with screens and buttons, electriccables and pipes that run from the ceiling to thefloor—and even a few tools, including a soldering ironin the corner. But the real “attraction”—and one of

the solid-state physics laboratory’s latest acquisitions—lies behind the glass panel: a super-powerful 14-tesla2

magnet that could pull the keys right out of your pocket.LPS researchers are expecting wonders from this

magnet that should expose undiscovered quantumproperties of matter in nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) experiments, a technique used to determinethe properties of each electron in a sample. “We finishedsetting up this new lab two months ago,” explains LPSresearcher Julien Bobroff. “Apart from the magnet,everything was made in-house: the cryostat, thespectrometer, the computer software... And with remoteaccess, experiments can continue round the clock!”

For LPS Director Jean-Paul Pouget, “developingoriginal instrumentation is one of our trademarks.What’s more, our aim is to tackle all aspects of solid-state physics, from the study of the structure of materialsto their electronic properties, and to do this via a stronglink-up between experiment and theory.” This has beenthe methodology of the LPS since its creation, exactly50 years ago. And it soon produced results. Not a decade

had passed before it received funding from two majorscientific awards given to Raimond Castaing in 1966,and to André Guinier, Jacques Friedel, and Pierre-Gillesde Gennes in 1967. In fact, two of the last four FrenchNobel prize-winners in physics—Pierre-Gilles de Gennes(1991) and Albert Fert (2007)—worked at the LPS at onepoint in their careers. But Pouget prefers to focus onthe lab’s present activities.

MAGNETIZATION, CONDUCTION, OR BOTHSolid-state physics, which ranges from electronics tonanotechnology and also encompasses biology, isflourishing. And renewed interest in the physics ofelectrons in materials is the perfect illustration.

“The general area of study is materials in whichelectrons have difficulty moving about because theyare constrained to one or two dimensions, and thushinder each other. At first sight, these materials shouldbe poor electrical conductors and therefore of littleinterest. But paradoxically, it is in these materials thatthe most surprising properties have been observed inthe past few years,” Bobroff explains.

The archetype of these new states of matter, inwhich the LPS specializes, is “high temperature super-conductivity,” observed in materials composed ofmultiple layers of copper oxide (cuprates) or morerecently, iron pnictides. This complex name hides oneof the greatest mysteries in physics today: supercon-ductivity. It occurs in metal when the temperatureapproaches absolute zero (-273.15 °C) and is characterizedby the disappearance of resistance to the flow of electriccurrents.

Since the 1960s, physicists have known thatsuperconductivity results from the interaction betweenelectrons and vibrations in the crystalline matrix inwhich they circulate.

In the case of cuprate oxides, superconductivitytakes place at a much higher temperature, with the

PHYSICS

The LPS,1 a renowned French solid-state physics laboratory, turned 50 lastyear. Alongside fascinatingexperiments, the laboratory continuesto make important discoveries,particularly regarding the intriguingelectronic properties of matter.

Left: Using their new magnet, theresearchers will be able to studythe electronic properties ofdifferent materials withunrivalled precision.

LPS physicists conduct very lowtemperature experiments toelucidate the quantum propertiesof superconductors.

On Electrons and Solids

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current record observed in one oxide standing at -135 °C, which is still cold, but much less than formetals. This makes scientists believe thatsuperconductivity could one day be achieved at roomtemperature, leading to materials that could conveyelectricity over great distances without any loss. To thisday, the origin of superconductivity in oxides has notbeen elucidated. “What’s even more mysterious is thatyou only need to slightly tweak an oxide to turn it froma superconductor to a magnetic insulating material,”says Bobroff.

The physicist and his team recently discoveredsomething surprising. In an NMR experiment on apnictide, the researchers discovered that the electronsexhibited both properties of magnetism3 and super-conductivity at the same time. “It’s fascinating because,in principle, magnetism and superconduction have atendency to be mutually exclusive. Yet our resultssuggest that they could have a shared origin in the caseof pnictides,” exclaims the researcher.

To get these results, the LPS researchers worked inclose collaboration with physicists and chemists fromthe SPEC,4 a division of condensed matter physics ofthe French atomic energy commission (CEA). As Pougetexplains: “With the CEA, the University of Orsay, andthe different laboratories located in Palaiseau, the LPShas access to an extraordinary scientific environment.To make the most of this, we initiated in 2006 anadvanced research network called the ‘triangle ofphysics,’ which enables funding for common projectsamong the different associated laboratories.” VéroniqueBrouet, another specialist of high critical temperaturesuperconduction at the LPS, is preparing to work withanother neighbor, Soleil, the national synchrotron

radiation source,5 on what are known asphotoemission experiments. “The labo-ratory has built some of the equipmentused on certain lines of Soleil, particu-larly the photoemission line,” explainsthe physicist. “This technique providesinsights into the relationship betweenthe energy of an electron and the direc-tion in which it propagates within amaterial. It is thus a complementarytechnique to NMR which, for its part,provides information on the spatial dis-tribution of electrons.”

FROM DISORDER TO ORDERUsing NMR technology, LPS researchers have alsoobtained remarkable results on what are known asspin ladder materials, in which the crystal lattice formsthe rungs of a ladder, at the end of which the electronsare positioned. In a standard material, at very lowtemperature, the spins of all the electrons are either alllined up in the same direction or oriented head to tail.The material is then said to have magnetic order.Conversely, in a spin ladder, the electrons are orientedin all directions. The material is thus magneticallydisordered.

“Collaborating with Nicolas Laflorencie, a youngtheoretician working in the laboratory, we have shownthat by randomly removing one magnetic atom out of100, the system, until then disordered, becomesordered,” explains Bobroff. It would be similar to havingone’s bookshelves reorganized alphabetically afterrandomly removing a few books.

Are these strange quantum effects simply goodfun for a few fringe specialists? Maybe, but it was alsoin the LPS in 1988 that the Nobel prizewinner inphysics, Albert Fert, discovered another strange propertyof condensed matter known as magnetoresistance, thephenomenon behind an emerging type of electronicsbased on magnetism, now known as spintronics. “Theimportant thing is to ensure that the laboratory does notbecome an ivory tower,” says Pouget. “For instance,we encourage collaboration with other institutions,with industry, and even between our different researchteams because it is at the very interface between existingdisciplines that new ones appear.” The researchers ofthe LPS are thus active on all fronts of condensedmatter. With their new NMR-dedicated magnet, it isunlikely that the electron specialists will be left behind.

Mathieu Grousson

1. Laboratoire de physique des solides (CNRS / Université Paris-XI).2. The tesla is the unit used to measure magnetic fields. By way ofcomparison, the magnetic field of the Earth is around 50microteslas. 3. In other words their spin (internal magnetization) is oriented in afavored direction. 4. Service de physique de l’état condensé (CNRS/ CEA).5. Synchrotron radiation is an electromagnetic radiation emitted byelectrons in movement.

The LPS is one of the largest French research centers specialized in condensed matter.Between 200 and 250 people work at the LPS on a daily basis, including 61 CNRS researchers,35 academics, 50 engineers, technicians, and administrative staff, and 35 PhD students. Eighteen research teams are grouped together around three main research topics: “Newelectronic states of matter,” “Physical phenomena with reduced dimensions,” and “Soft matterand physics-biology interface.” The topics of research thus extend from superconductors toliving tissues, while encompassing liquid crystals and nano-objects. Between 2005 and 2008, the LPS produced 650 publications, including 500 articles ininternational scientific journals with peer-review committees.

THE LPS IN FIGURES

The superconductor state ofthis oxide (in black) isdemonstrated in a magnetlevitation experiment. In fact,superconductivity ischaracterized by the expulsionof any magnetic field outsideof the sample. This is knownas the Meissner effect.

This low-temperaturemanipulator, used on the Soleilsynchrotron, was made at theLPS, and illustrates thelaboratory’s ability to produceoriginal instrumentation.

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Schematicrepresentationof the magneticmoments (orspins) of copperatoms within anoxide sampleknown as a spinladder.

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Jean-Paul Pouget, [email protected]

Ô Julien Bobroff, [email protected]

Ô Véronique Brouet, [email protected]


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In the ongoing fight againstpollution, plants offer a valuablecontribution by collecting, trans-forming, or removing pollutantsfrom soil or water—somethingcalled phytoremediation.

To counter heavy metal waste,for example, vegetal tools rely onmolecules like nicotianamine (NA),a small molecule crucial for trans-porting the ionic forms of metalssuch as iron, zinc, and copper,throughout plant organs. Butmystery surrounding how NA—which has proven aptitude for nickeldetoxification—is synthesized, hasso far prevented its potential frombeing fully explored. A team fromIBEB1 working at the CEA’s2

Cadarache research center,and fromINRA3 in Montpellier has now

reveals that one byone, three molecules of the substrate S-adenosylmethioninepenetrate a tiny openingto the enzyme’s reactionchamber, to reach the active sitewhere the reaction takes place.Once the first molecule is processed,it is pushed deeper into the chamberby the second molecule that replacesit in the active site. The two mole-cules then link together and movefurther into the chamber while thethird molecule takes its turn in theactive site. It is finally fused to theduo, completing the NA molecule.

With this finding, the design ofNA-reliant biosensors for detectingheavy metals in the environmentcan now be optimized. “This result

unlocked the mechanism thatproduces NA, paving the way fornew biological tools.4

The key to NA synthesis lies innicotianamine synthase (NA-Syn-thase), a plant enzyme that isextremely difficult to isolate. To over-come this obstacle, the researchersexamined NA-Synthase-like enzymesin the archaea5 Methanothermobac-ter thermautotrophicus after noticingthat “NA-Synthase in eukaryotesfinds distant counterparts in certainarchaea,” explains Pascal Arnouxfrom the CEA. They have thusuncovered the secret to NA’ssynthesis in the reaction chamberburied at the enzyme’s heart.

So how exactly is NA made? 3D structure analysis of the NA-Synthase-like enzyme at work

ENZYMOLOGY

A Green Answer to Heavy Metal

3D structure of the NA-Synthase from Methanothermobacterthermautotrophicus.

PALEONTOLOGY

Getting Over an Extinction Crisis

Over the course of millions ofyears, the Earth regularlyundergoes extinction crises

during which biodiversityplummets. Then, a few species thatsurvive the disaster diversify again.A group of laboratories in Franceand Switzerland, bridging decadesof past data with extensive fieldworkand statistical modeling, has shownthat this revival can happenastonishingly fast.1

The team found that in the wakeof the Permo-Triassic mass extinc-

tion2 (252.6 million years ago),ammonites,3 an extinct group ofmarine animals, rebounded inmerely one million years, and not intens of millions of years aspreviously thought. “Relatively soonafter the crisis, biodiversity startedup again, and new species rapidlyappeared in the oceans in masses,resuming levels of diversitycomparable to those just before theevent,” says Gilles Escarguel fromthe PEPS laboratory4 in Lyon, whoworked on the project.

Researchers believe a singlespecies, among the two or three thatsurvived, is at the origin of the post-crisis diversification. They indexed860 ammonite genera5 from 77different past oceanic basins all overthe world.

Some of the fossil samples werealready present in databases fromprevious studies, and the remainderwere collected over the past sevenyears mainly from the US andsouthern China (Guangxi). The fieldinvestigation is still taking place inTibet and Pakistan. The specimenswere hard to gather, since these mol-lusks typically do not fossilize duringa crisis-event, due to the ocean’sseverely deteriorated conditions.

“Surprisingly, living beingsactually regenerate much morequickly than the ocean retrieves itsphysical and chemical balance,”explains Escarguel.

This finding helps predict whatmight follow the sixth major extinc-tion phase that our biosphere hascurrently entered. Recovery after adownfall spans tens of thousands

of human generations, but isremarkably sturdy. According toArnaud Brayard from theBiogeosciences laboratory6 in Dijon,who based his PhD work on thistopic, “life always manages to survivesomewhere and to rediversify, evenif we’re not sure exactly how thishappens. It may take a long time,but it will eventually reappear.”

Melisande Middleton

1. A. Brayard et al., “Good Genes and GoodLuck: Ammonoid Diversity and the End-Permian Mass Extinction,” Science, 2009.325: 1079-80.2. Documented as the largest massextinction over the past 550 million years,killing more than 90% of marine species.3. Ammonites are fossil mollusks related topresent-day octopus, squid, and cuttlefish.4. Paléoenvironnement et paléobiosphère(CNRS / Université Lyon-I). 5. A genus is a set of closely related species.6. Biogéosciences (CNRS / Université deBourgogne).

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Gilles EscarguelPEPS, [email protected]

Ô Arnaud BrayardBiogéosciences, [email protected] different groups of ammonites coexisted during the Permian (red), only one

group, ceratites (green), survived the Permo-Triassic mass extinction.

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also paves the way for devel-oping molecules related to NAas novel actors in the field ofbio- and phyto-remediation,”indicates Arnoux.

Fui Lee Luk

1. Institut de biologieenvironnementale et de biotechnologie

(CNRS / CEA / Université Aix-MarseilleII).

2. Commissariat à l’énergie atomique.3. Institut national de la rechercheagronomique.4. C. Dreyfus et al., “Crystallographicsnapshots of iterative substratetranslocations during nicotianaminesynthesis in archaea,” PNAS, 2009. 106:16180-4. 5. Unicellular micro-organisms that thrivein extreme conditions.

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Pascal ArnouxCEA, St Paul lez [email protected]

PHYSIOLOGY

About a decade ago, when rods and coneswere considered the only photoreceptorsof the vertebrate eye, a previously unde-tected photopigment was identified:

melanopsin. It has been shown to regulate awide range of non-visual functions, such as thesynchronization of the circadian rhythms andthe sleep-wake cycle with the light-dark cycle.

Two main mechanisms regulate sleep: thecircadian mechanism, which determines the opti-mal time for sleep, and the homeostatic system,which keeps track of how long the body is awakeand asleep, and triggers “sleep pressure” when thebody suffers from sleep deprivation. Though lightwas known to influence the circadian mecha-nism via melanopsin, its effects on non-circa-dian processes were considered minor. Now, in arecent study,1 a team from CNRS’ INCI2 revealsthat light detection by melanopsin acts directly onnon-circadian mechanisms and that circadianand non-circadian routes interact with one another.

The researchers usedmelanopsin-deficient trans-genic mice, a model tradition-ally used to study non-circa-dian aspects of sleep.Transgenic mice and controlmice were placed undervarious light-dark schedules,and their sleep-wake patternsand sleep electrocorticographywere recorded.

In mice, sleep is inducedby light, and alertness by dark-ness. In their study, the scien-tists observed that melanopsin-deficient mice slept about onehour less than control miceduring light phases, and thattheir level of alertness, inducedby darkness, was lowered.Despite their lack of sleep, electrocorticographyrecordings showed that melanopsin-deficientmice did not “catch up” on sleep. On the contrary,they presented a trend of decreased sleep, whichsuggests that depriving mice of melanopsindisrupts their homeostatic system. More generally,these observations suggest that light influencesthe sleep-wake cycle not only through circadianroutes, but also non-circadian mechanisms, bothvia melanopsin. “Confirmation of these findingsin humans could lead to important applicationsfor light therapy and better lightingmanagement,” says Patrice Bourgin, co-authorof the study.

The second study,3 led by CNRS researcherHoward Cooper,4 investigates how melanopsinresponds to light stimulation.

In 2005, in vitro studies had revealed thatthe transduction of light signals by melanopsinmore closely resembles that of invertebrate pho-topigments than vertebrate rods and cones. Whena photon is absorbed by melanopsin, a responseis elicited but the photopigment also becomesdesensitized. In contrast to rod and conephotopigments that require the enzymaticretinoid cycle to restore their light sensitivity,melanopsin uses the absorption of a secondphoton to regenerate the photopigment. Thislight-driven reversibility, called “bistability,” iswhat enables melanopsin to maintain a sustained

response to light stimulation, contrary torods and cones, which only respond totransient changes in light.

To explore this process in vivo, the teamstudied the pupillary light reflex in humans.Input from all photoreceptors causes thehuman pupil to constrict. However, the

scientists observed that rods and cones only allowan initial transient constriction of the pupil,whereas melanopsin produces a stabilized stateof sustained constriction in response to light.The team suggests that “a normal sustainedpupillary constriction requires melanopsin, whichremains photosensitive even during extendedexposure to light,” says Cooper. The authorshypothesize that exploiting melanopsin’s bi-stability and its sustained response capabilitycould lead to clinical applications for improvingphototherapy to treat dysfunctional circadianrhythms of sleep, or seasonal depression.

Clémentine Wallace

1. J.W. Tsai et al., “Melanopsin as a sleep modulator:circadian gating of the direct effects of light on sleep andaltered sleep homeostasis in Opn4(-/-) mice,” PLoS Biol.,2009. 7(6): e1000125. 2. Institut des neurosciences cellulaires et intégratives(CNRS).3. L.A. Mure et al., “Melanopsin bistability: a fly’s eyetechnology in the human retina,” PLoS One, 2009. 4:e5991.4. Photoréception et chronobiologie (Inserm U846).

Section of a mouseretina showing thecones of the outer layer(green), and a largemelanopsin-expressingganglion cell (red) inthe inner layer.

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Patrice BourginINCI, [email protected]

Ô Howard CooperInserm 846, [email protected]

Two CNRS studies help further understand themechanisms by which melanopsin—a newphotopigment found in the human retina—regulatesnon-visual functions of light such as the synchronizationof the sleep-wake cycle and the pupillary reflex.

The Many Roles of Melanopsin

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BIOTECHNOLOGY

Researchers at the Toulouse-based LAAS1 have devised new typesof chips enabling three-dimensional imaging of cells andexperimentation at the single-cell level.

Cellular Biology on a Chip

No matter how good a microscope’s res-olution, the two-dimensional view inits eyepiece will only reveal a small partof a cell’s mysteries.

“To get 3D images,” explains AurélienBancaud of LAAS, “a researcher would needmultiple images of the cell from multipleangles”—a process that up to now was both slowand damaging to the cells being studied.

Bancaud has devised an elegantly simplesolution—a mirrored chip2—with an unlikelyinspiration. “When you walk into certain hotelbathrooms, there are mirrors that you can adjustto see yourself head-on or from the sides. Basi-cally, we adopted that technology, but adjusted thesize for yeast cells,” says Bancaud.

Of course, he is simplifying matters. Bancaud,whose background is in biophysics, used theLAAS microfabrication facility to create a tinysilicon wafer, into which were grooved severaltrenches. When coated with a thin sheen ofaluminum, the sides of these grooves formed atwo-angled mirror.

Yeast cells with fluorescent-tagged proteins,when passed through the trenches of thisreflective “lab on a chip,” become visible frommultiple angles in a single viewing. These imagescan then be combined to create a three-dimen-

sional model that gives researchers a deeperunderstanding of their subjects.

The device is especially useful for tracking fastbiological reactions, like those involving DNA,without risking damage to the cells through themultiple light flashes required by more cum-bersome 3D imaging techniques. Bancaud’s par-ticular interest is to study yeast chromosomes, andthe first experiments using the chip tracked theactions of a fluorescent-tagged chromosome inyeast cells, which he was able to capture in almostreal time.

Although the size and angle of the mirrorsare easily adjustable, the technology is currentlybest suited to smaller cells like yeast; the largerthe cell, the more distant its organelles from themirror. Bancaud is collaborating with researchersin Paris to test the feasibility of using his chip toobserve neurites—small projections from aneuron.

While yeast cells are easily trapped and guidedby Bancaud’s reflective trenches, lymphocytesare much more difficult to pin down. Lympho-cytes are like cellular butterflies in the human

circulatory system: they flutter about freely inthe currents.

And if lymphocytes are butterflies, Liviu Nicuis an avid collector. With colleagues in Grenoble,the LAAS-based physicist has developed a methodfor pinning down lymphocytes to a microscopicchip.3 By doing so, scientists can now study thesekey elements of the body’s immune system onan individual cell basis.

“The challenge is that these cells do not nor-mally stick onto a surface, because they moveabout constantly through the blood vessels inour body. To study how the cell operates on asingle cell level, you have to find a way to stick thecell onto a surface and study it while it is still aliveon this surface,” explains Nicu.

The solution is to glue each cell into place inan orderly fashion. He thus devised a “bio-pen”—a series of micro-scaled silver silicon cantilevers.Each pen is filled with a biological solution,which is deposited by simple contact onto surfacesfor different applications.

In this case, the solution was specifically for-mulated to hold slippery lymphocytes in place,though the system could easily be adapted forother types of cells or viruses. The end result isa chip containing orderly rows of cells. Each cellcan then be exposed to stresses and chemicals,and its reactions tested and measured individu-ally—unlike in the free-flowing chaos of a Petridish, where tracking the reaction of a single cellis almost impossible.

“The challenge is to look at the pathologieson the single-cell level,”says Nicu. The applica-tions for this system aremany: it could be used indrug screening, for exam-ple, and the technologyhas already been licensedby a French privatecompany (Microbiochip,Paris) for manufacturingprotein chips on-demand.

Mark Reynolds

1. Laboratoire d’analyse et d’architecture des systèmes(CNRS).2. H. Hajjoul et al., “Lab-on-chip for fast 3D particle trackingin cells,” Lab on a Chip, 2009. 9: 3054-8.3. Y. Roupioz et al., “Individual Blood-Cell Capture and 2DCapture on Microarrays,” Small, 2009. 5: 1493-7.

CONTACT INFORMATIONLAAS, Toulouse.

Ô Aurélien Bancaud, [email protected]

Ô Liviu Nicu, [email protected]

Bio-pens depositing specificantibodies on a slide to traplive cells.

A hundred of V-shapedmicro-mirrors (orangescheme) allow 3D imagingof biological material (hereyeast nuclei, in the lowerright corner) by this lab-on-a-chip device.

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CNRS Magazine n° O Fall 2005CNRS International Magazine n° 16 January 2010

BIOCHEMISTRY

Enzyme Displays Astonishing Property

Marielle Lemaire and herteam at SEESIB,1 who studyenzymes that form sugar

analogues, have made an accidentaland unexpected discovery: anenzyme that can produce bothglucose and fructose depending onthe substrate it uses.

Her team and that of PereClapès2 in Spain are looking fortherapeutic solutions to treatdiseases affecting the lysosome, anorganelle of the cells whose functionis intra-cellular digestion, carriedout by over 50 enzymes. In theserare genetic afflictions, a deficientgene leads to the production of ill-built enzymes, which cannot playtheir natural role of biocatalyst. Theirdeficiency generates a toxicaccumulation of metabolites (thenatural substrates or molecules

upon which an enzyme acts) withinthe cells.

For a few years now, a thera-peutic strategy called “chaperonmolecular therapy” aims to createsmall chaperon molecules, which,combined with the ill-built enzyme,will restore its functional form andreinstate its biocatalytic properties.The researchers’ goal is to producechaperon molecules that look likethe natural substrate of the targetedenzyme so that chaperon andenzyme will easily interact with oneanother.

In this field, Lemaire wasparticularly interested in someglycosidases, enzymes that digestsugars in the lysosome. Her teamwanted to create specifically-designed chaperons that resembledsugars and would be tested as chap-

erons for glycosidases. To do so, onecan use enzymes that catalyse theformation of sugar analogues. Afew months ago, her team beganstudying one of these “resource”enzymes: D-Fructose-6-phosphateAldolase, which usually producessugars from the fructose family.What they stumbled on was anunusual peculiarity: this specificaldolase also creates sugars of theglucose family, an ability neverdescribed before within the scope ofthis enzyme group. “What makesthis enzyme exceptional is its abil-ity to catalyse reactions with variedsubstrates. Usually, enzymes, likelocks, only work with one key andonly generate a reaction with specificmolecules,” explains Lemaire.

This “exotic” property, “absolutelystunning for scientists working in

our field,” has been described in anarticle labelled VIP—Very Impor-tant Paper.3 The perspectives openedby this discovery remain to beexplored: from diabetes treatment toartificial sweeteners, it will alldepend on where industry takes it.

Marie-Hélène Towhill

1. Laboratoire Synthèse et études desystèmes à intérêt biologiques, Aubière(CNRS/ Université Blaise Pascal).2. Instituto de Quimica Avanzada deCataluña-CSIC, Barcelona.3. X. Garrabou et al., “Asymmetric Self- andCross-Aldol Reactions of GlycolaldehydeCatalyzed by D-Fructose-6-phosphateAldolase,” Angew Chem Int Ed Engl., 2009.48: 5521-5.

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Marielle Lemaire SEESIB, [email protected]

COSMOCHEMISTRY

Isotopic Stopwatch

New high-precision analysesof the aluminum radioiso-tope 26 (26Al) reveal that it

was distributed homogeneouslyacross the nascent Solar System,giving researchers fundamentalinsight into its chaotic beginnings.

To come to this conclusion,scientists looked at the oldest solidmaterials in our Solar System,primitive meteorites known as chon-drites. These are made up of roundgrain-like particles—called chon-drules—and calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs).

For the past 30 years, cosmo-chemists have dated meteoritesusing 26Al, a short-lived isotope witha half-life of just 730,000 years,which is believed to have been abun-dant during the formation of theSolar System, more than 4.56 billionyears ago.

Though no longer in existence,this isotope radioactively decays tothe magnesium isotope (26Mg),which can be effectively measured.This dating method, although

extremely precise (on the order of100,000 years), is still “relative,”since it can only date objects inrelation to one another.

To make it reliable, and allowscientists to retrace a precisechronology of the formation ofsolids, one would have to prove thatthe aluminum isotope was distrib-uted homogeneously throughoutthe early Solar System.

This is what Johan Villeneuvefrom CRPG1 and his colleagues setout to show.2

The team used the secondaryion mass spectrometer (SIMS), ahigh-precision tool that can measureisotope abundance in natural rocksamples, to analyze the Semarkonameteorite. This chondrite, whichfell in India in 1940, has remainedrelatively unaltered by thermal andchemical changes since its forma-tion, more than four billion yearsago. They found that althoughSemarkona’s chondrules have verydifferent formation ages, spanninga range of about three million years,

their 26Al initial content is veryhomogeneous.

“Since the aluminum isotope’shomogeneity is present in the oldestmaterials as well as in more recentconstituents, this homogenisationmust have occured very early on,”explains Villeneuve. This validatesthe use of 26Al as a chronometer tomeasure the timing of chondruleformation.

“It also helps us understand theSolar System’s evolution models,”adds Villeneuve, “since such solidsunderwent the first condensationand accretion processes that finallyled to the formation of planets.”

The next step is to establishpossible correlations between thechondrules’ formation times andtheir petrographic and chemicalcharacteristics.

Marion Girault-Rime

1. Centre de recherches pétrographiques etgéochimiques (CNRS).2. J. Villeneuve et al., “Homogeneousdistribution of 26Al in the Solar Systemfrom the Mg isotopic composition ofchondrules,” Science, 2009. 325: 985-8.

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Johan VilleneuveCRPG, Nancy. [email protected]

The glassy matrix(green) embeddingpyroxene crystals(purple) in thissample from theSemarkonameteorite is theoldest glassknown in the solarsystem.

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Largest French Glacier Melting

12 LIVEFROMTHELABS news

Our planet is humming, andthis hum relates to the Earth’sstructure below its crust. This

finding,1 that also promises to helpdelve into the structures of planetsbeyond our own, was revealed by acollaboration between teams fromthe University of Tokyo’s EarthquakeResearch Institute and the Instituteof Earth Physics of Paris (IPGP).2

In 1998, Japanese scientists dis-covered that vibrations coursingthrough the Earth generated a hum,said to result from the interactionbetween solid landmasses and fluidlayers of air and water. Since then,researchers have been listening veryattentively to our planet’s song,trying to read more into the melody.

For though this low-frequency3

hum may elude human ears, it nev-ertheless speaks volumes—literally.

Until now, the Earth’s subsur-face has been explored by tomo-

graphic methods, where sectionimages are compiled fromearthquake data. Images can becreated on the basis that seismicwaves evolve as they travel throughvarious geological formations. Forexample, they travel more quicklythrough cold, dense volumes thanthrough hot, less dense ones.

While traditional tomographycan only use data from strongearthquakes to generate images, theFranco-Japanese team has come upwith an alternative that “could workwithout quakes, relying instead onthe Earth’s perpetual and ubiquitoushum,” says Jean-Paul Montagner ofthe IPGP.

Using data from 1986 to 2003,the team analyzed the hum’s soundwaves gathered by 54 stationsaround the globe. As hum variationscaused by atmospheric disturbancesor ocean swells occur randomly, it is

possible to track the speed and pathof specific sounds passing throughthe Earth’s crust and thus establishphase-velocity maps.

By associating wave velocityfluctuations with variations in themantle’s physical and chemicalcomposition, the team successfullyderived a 3D model of the uppermantle.4 The feasibility of thisapproach, capable of plunging todepths of 500 km, is confirmed byits correlation with mantle modelsestablished from seismic data.

Where the team’s methodpromises to go even further is inthe exploration of other terrestrialplanets. Since the existence ofquakes on such planets is notdemonstrated, the team posits thattheir mantles may instead be

modeled by tapping into their hums.This solution, Montagner believes,could work “on Mars and Venus,planets with atmospheres denseenough to excite their own hums.”Ideally, this possibility would betested by setting up a network ofstations on the planets and operatingthem for several years.

Fui Lee Luk

1. K. Nishida et al., “Global Surface WaveTomography Using Seismic Hum,” Science,2009. 326: 112. 2. Institut de physique du globe de Paris(CNRS / Université Paris Diderot / IPG). 3. Frequencies of 2-10 mHz.4. Indicating the speed at which a givenphase of a wave travels.

GEOPHYSICS

Earth’s Good Vibrations

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Jean-Paul MontagnerIPGP, [email protected]

Shear wave velocityperturbations, here measuredat a depth of 140 km, andcollected at stations all overthe world (black dots), tellscientists about the Earth’sstructure.

CELL BIOLOGY

Stem Cells: Renewal vs Differentiation

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) can poten-tially give rise to any of the blood cell types.But when a stem cell divides, how is the

decision taken to simply duplicate itself or todifferentiate into a specific new cell type?

A team led by Michael Sieweke at theImmunology Center of Marseille-Luminy1

addressed this question by examining howhematopoietic stem cells generate myeloid cells,a type of white blood cell that fights infections. Togather evidence, lab member Sandrine Sarrazininvestigated the very first divisions of stem cellsdrawn from mouse bone marrow.2

“To isolate stem cells, we harvested all thecells contained in the bone marrow, then sortedhematopoietic stem cells by Fluorescence ActivatedCell Sorting (FACS),” she explains. These cellswere then either studied in vitro or reinjected intothe spleen of a mouse, to follow their commitmentto the myeloid lineage in situ.”

The team discovered that the decision togenerate myeloid cells results from the joint actionof two proteins. One is located inside the cell (atranscription factor, which turns different geneson or off), while the other is a cytokine—a smallprotein that carries signals locally between cells

and stimulates them to proliferate. “We haveshown that the transcription factor MafBmodulates stem cells’ sensitivity to the cytokineM-CSF,” explains Sieweke. When MafB level ishigh, stem cells are less sensitive to the action ofM-CSF. Conversely, reduced levels of MafB makeit possible for the cytokine to stimulate the stemcell to specifically give rise to myeloid cells.

Although focused on hematopoietic stemcells, this study might be relevant for other typesof stem cells. It may also provide clues on howabnormal blood stem cells multiply in leukemia,and help develop treatment methods. Potentially,one might also learn how to orient the differen-tiation of blood cells in a deliberate direction, forexample making more white blood cells to fightan infection.

Melisande Middleton

1. Université Aix-Marseille-II / CNRS / Inserm.2. S. Sarrazin et al., “MafB Restricts M-CSF-DependentMyeloid Commitment Divisions of Hematopoietic StemCells,” Cell, 2009. 138: 300-13.


CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Michael Sieweke CNRS, [email protected]

The Cook ice cap in the KerguelenIslands, a French territory in thesouthern Indian Ocean, has shrunk atan ever increasing speed over the last20 years.1Matching satellite data from 1991,2001, and 2003 with historical datafrom 1963, researchers from LEGOS2

observed a 22% volume loss over the40-year period, a process whichaccelerated in recent years.On average, the ice mass has thinnedby 1.5 meters per year, a much fasterpace than that recorded for otherglaciers in the world. Scientists believe global warming,through high temperatures and lowprecipitation since the 1980s, is partlyresponsible for the melting. But sincethe ice loss started in the 1960s,

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Not only does “sleeping on it” help with decision-making, it also letsus memorize important information acquired during the day. Recentresearch throws new and astonishing light on this process.

Memory Improves with Sleep

The other part of thisresearch concerns the roleof the hippocampus inthis dialogue with thecortex. Cortex-hippocam-pus interactions occur

specifically when the latter emits very rapidelectrical oscillations called “ripples.” “The mostcommon hypothesis is that ripples allow memoryconsolidation during sleep, probably bytransferring labile memories to the cortex,”explains Gabrielle Girardeau, another researcherat LPPA. This is the hypothesis that the scientistswanted to test.

For this, they placed rats in a chamber shapedlike an eight-pointed star. A reward was placed at the end of three of the points (alwaysthe same). The rats were encouraged to explorethe star to find the reward, and were then allowedto go to sleep.

During their sleep, the scientists usedelectrodes to apply very weak electrical pulsesto the rats’ hippocampi. Though this did notwake the rodents or disturb other parts of theirbrain, it specifically blocked the ripples.

The result was that during the 15-dayexperiment, treated rats found it difficult tomemorize the rewarding points of the star, unlikethe control rats that were highly successful. “Theripples thus play a fundamental role in memoryconsolidation, probably by transmittinginformation to the cortex.”

Sebastián Escalón

1. A. Peyrache et al., “Replay of rule-learning related neuralpatterns in the prefrontal cortex during sleep,” Nat.Neurosci., 2009. 12: 919-26. 2. G. Girardeau et al., “Selective suppression ofhippocampal ripples impairs spatial memory,” Nat.Neurosci., 2009. 12: 1222-3.3. Laboratoire de physiologie de la perception et de l’action(CNRS/ Collège de France).4. A subpopulation of coordinated cells whose synchronousdischarge is associated with internal process andinformation encoding.

LIVEFROMTHELABS 13

Though apparently asleep, a healthy rat isbusy memorizing its way through aspecially-designed maze it had earlierbeen placed in.

These neurophysiological processes,specifically the mechanisms of memorizationduring sleep, were recently investigated1,2 byresearchers from LPPA.3

According to the most widely-acceptedhypothesis, during sleep a dialogue takes placebetween two structures in the brain—thehippocampus and the cortex—which enableslong-term memorization of information in thecortex. Yet until now, this dialogue had neverreally been observed. To meet this challenge, theresearchers implanted electrodes in the brains ofrats to observe ongoing neural activity. Therodents were placed in a maze where they had tolearn a specific task, such as turning right ateach junction, for example. Once they had under-

stood the task, they were allowed to go to sleep. The scientists were then able to compare

neural activity during wakefulness and sleep.“When the rat was carrying out its task, neu-ronal assemblies4 developed which were acti-vated simultaneously in the cortex and hip-pocampus. Then, during sleep, we observed thatthe same patterns were reproduced,” explainsLPPA researcher Adrien Peyrache. In otherwords, the rat was dreaming about the maze:the cortex and hippocampus together “replayed”the events that the animal had just experienced,letting the rat assimilate new knowledge. Butthere is more: “We realized that neural activityduring sleep corresponded to that which occurredwhen the rat had understood a task during wake-fulness. In other words, the brain only replayedepisodes in which the rat’s behavior was themost efficient.” Thus the animal first and fore-most retained what would prove useful to him.

researchers also put the blame on theglacier’s delayed response to thenatural warming that followed theLittle Ice Age, a cold period thatended in the second half of the 19thcentury.

1. E. Berthier et al., J. Geophys. Res., 2009. 114doi:10.1029/2008JF001192. 2. Laboratoire d’études en géophysique etocéanographie spatiales (CNRS / IRD / CNES /Université Paul Sabatier).

> Contact Information: Etienne Berthier,[email protected]

Sleeping right afterthis exercise will helpthe rat rememberwhere to find the foodin the maze.

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3D view of theLapparent nunatak(region of Ampèreglacier) with itsoutline in 1963 (white)and 2001 (red).

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Ô Gabrielle [email protected]

Ô Adrien [email protected]

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PALEONTOLOGY

In early October of last year, CNRS announced the discovery, near the city of Lyon,of the largest dinosaur footprints ever found. How significant is this discovery andwhat can these footprints tell us about the animals that left them?

In the Footsteps of the Largest Dinosaurs

W hen Marie-Hélène Marcaud andPatrice Landry, two natureenthusiasts, came across oval tracks1.5 m long in Plagne in April 2009,

they immediately reached out to PierreHantzpergue and Jean-Michel Mazin from thePEPS laboratory.1

“These tracks were left by some of the largestanimals to ever walk the planet,” says Mazin,who is studying the large soil depressions,together with geologist Hantzpergue. Beyondtheir unusual size, Mazin also notes the presenceof a fold of limestone sediment towards the frontof the prints. “The fold was formed when theanimal’s paw sank into mud,” he explains.

He also recognizes evidence of quadrupedlocomotion, with alternating prints made by thefront and back paws. “In this case, the animal foot-print partly overlaps its handprint. The hand-print thus only appears as a thin crescent-shapedprint at the front of the footprint.”

As for Hantzpergue, he is dating the foot-prints by biostratigraphy. “This involves studyingthe different strata which have built up under thefootprints to analyze the fossils within them,notably ammonites,” he explains. Ammoniteswent through a very rapid morphological evolu-tion, which makes it possible to date, in relativeterms, the strata where they are found to within150,000 years. This is a precise enough estimate,

given that the dinosaur tracks are more than 150million years old.

Beyond simply breaking a size record (thelargest footprints until now measured 1.2 m)“what interests us is the wealth of informationthese footprints will reveal about the animalswho left them,” says Mazin. “We will be able tounderstand how they walked.” And it must havebeen something of a challenge, considering theanimal’s weight. According to known sauropodskeletons, the footprints suggest these dinosaurswere more than 25 meters in length and weighedmore than 40 tons. The weight at which a livingbeing would collapse under its own weight isonly 10 or 20 tons off...

To reconstruct a few minutes of the life of a40-ton giant from these footprints—some 20have already been uncovered—the researcherswant to work with biophysicists who will providebiomechanical equations for quadrupedlocomotion, models that have already been usedon smaller dinosaurs from the same family.Using the distance between footprints, theresearchers hope to calculate the speed at whichthe animal was moving—probably no more than4 km/h—as well as determine its acceleration anddeceleration. The angle between footprints left bythe right and left feet is expected to reveal themaneuverability of the animal, which wasprobably very limited. “To turn, they probably

needed to stop first,” adds Mazin. “They werecertainly incapable of running, and were prettymuch trudging along, keeping three paws on the ground at any one time. In fact,even to lift a single paw must have required ahuge effort.”

What were these dinosaurs doing in an areathat was covered by sea for millions of yearsduring the Jurassic period? “We know that atthe end of this period, the region was frequentlyimmersed,” says Hantzpergue. These dinosaurs,which were 300 km further north, probably tookadvantage of a drop in sea level to head south.Vegetation-covered islets, interspersed through-out this vast muddy plain, probably providedfood for the expedition. “To know more, we needto reconstruct the lives of these sauropods, mainlyby using fossils of other animals we hope tofind,” says the geologist.

So, how did the footprints survive until now?Made in carbonated mud and preserved fromthe paths of other animals, they probably driedfairly quickly in the sun. “They were then coveredby several hundreds of meters of sediment, andlater exposed through the erosion that created theJura’s topography,” says Hantzpergue. Morerecently, a path used to carry wood led to theremoval of the top layer of soil, virtually exposingthe footprints.

Further exploration has suggested thepresence of other tracks, hundreds of metersaway, under 10 to 50 cm of earth and plant cover.Uncovering them will mean digging up ameadow of several hectares. The whole areaneeds to be mapped, through laser survey of thetracks and aerial photography. This research isexpected to take three to four years for a team of30 people whom the researchers hope to recruit.They will also need to secure funding, possiblyfrom the regional authorities of the area, in orderto pursue their work and uncover more sauropodfootprints.

Charline Zeitoun

1. Paléoenvironnements et paléobiosphère(CNRS/Université Claude Bernard Lyon-I).

CONTACT INFORMATIONPEPS, Lyon.

Ô Jean-Michel [email protected]

Ô Pierre [email protected]

Artist’s rendering of sauropods(yellow) whose footprintswere found at Plagne.

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draw enough phosphorus and nitrogen fromthe soil, they are not able to grow. The othercomplementary hypothesis has to do with themicrobial diversity of the soil. For nutrition andgrowth, trees rely on the activity of soil bacteriaand fungi that recycle nutrients. The growthbarrier for trees may result from differences inthe abundance and species of microorganismsin forest soils.

During the one-month expedition, Ibanez,aboard the Nueva Galicia vessel which served asthe expedition’s logistical base, performed severalexcursions to take soil and leaf samples. He col-lected 120 samples, around 15 kg altogether, inthe three plant communities that are distributedalong an altitude gradient from sea level up to650 meters. “This is the most difficult but alsothe most beautiful field work I’ve ever done,”he comments. “Sometimes, to reach the mostinteresting areas, it was necessary to cut a paththrough ice fallen from the glaciers, or to digholes over a meter deep in the ice,” he adds.

The collected samples are now being analyzedat a Chilean laboratory2 which LECA has beencooperating with for several years. DNA sampleswill be brought back to LECA to be sequenced inorder to characterize the local microbialbiodiversity.

One of the key assets of this research is thatit was carried out in virgin ecosystems. “When

we do research in theAlps, for example, weknow we are working inplaces that have beencleared, colonized, andused for agriculture orforestry throughouthistory,” says Lavorel. “Inthis remote part of Tierradel Fuego, there has beenno human interference.

All the physiological traits of the species aredirectly related to climatic conditions.” The expe-dition should lead to insights into the evolutionand adaptation of species to the harshest cli-mates. And these will provide preciousinformation at a time when climate change is hit-ting subantarctic regions full on.

Sebastián Escalón

1. Laboratoire d’écologie alpine (CNRS / UniversitéGrenoble-I / Université Chambéry).2. Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, UniversidadCatólica de Chile.

experiments to be con-ducted. “The moun-taineers wanted to leaveat the beginning ofspring for the SouthernHemisphere, when the snow bridges still fillcrevasses. That’s why we decided to base ourresearch on trees, the only plant form that wouldemerge from the snow cover.”

More specifically, researchers decided to lookat the subantarctic beech Nothofagus pumilio.Although this beech originated in the SouthernHemisphere and is well adapted to rigorousclimatic conditions, it cannot grow above a certainaltitude. “Research carried out in New Zealandon related beech species shows that the altitudelimit is not only climatic—if the only issue weretemperature, beech forests would be found athigher altitudes.” Previous observations in Chileand New Zealand point to an “invisible barrier”that beech trees cannot cross.

What is the true nature of this barrier? Thescientists will attempt to test two hypotheses.The first one focuses on the availability ofnutrients. If above a certain elevation trees cannot

There is little doubt the spirit of greatexplorers like Darwin, Humboldt, orBougainville escorted the Frenchexpedition which left in late September

to travel through one of the last unexploredregions on Earth, the Darwin Cordillera in thesouthernmost part of Patagonia.

The participants included mountaineers,researchers, photographers, as well as afilmmaker and a writer. As during the golden ageof world exploration, all aspects of discovery werepresent on this six-week expedition, aptly called“A Darwin dream.”

“The original idea came from a group ofmountain guides who wanted to set up an expe-dition to an unexplored region of Earth. They set-tled on the Darwin Cordillera fairly quickly. Eventhough some of the coastal peaks of the range havebeen climbed, no one has ever attempted to crossthe entire length of the range,” explains SandraLavorel, CNRS senior researcher at LECA1 inGrenoble. “Yvan Estienne, the expedition leader,wanted to add a scientific dimension to the project.That’s how I got involved.” As an ecosystemsspecialist for regions with extreme climates, sheplanned the scientific project together withSébastien Ibanez, also from LECA, who actuallyparticipated in the expedition and collected thesamples. For once, it is the expedition itself thatdetermined the direction of research and the

Uncharted Territory ECOLOGY

Last October, a group of explorers crossed one of the last unknownexpanses on Earth, the Cordillera Darwin in Tierra del Fuego,southern Patagonia. CNRS researchers took advantage of thisunique expedition to collect samples that will help them understandhow species adapt to the harshest climates.

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Sandra LavorelLECA, [email protected]

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After an early appointment at CNRS, Harochemoved to Pierre and Marie Curie Universitywhere he became physics professor in 1975,while keeping his research activity at ENS.Between 1981 and 1993, he also held both visit-ing and part time positions at Stanford, MIT,Harvard, and Yale.

Today, Haroche is head of the “Electro-dynamics of simple systems” group at the KastlerBrossel laboratory and professor of quantumphysics at the Collège de France. He has authoredmore than 170 publications and has received anumber of scientific awards. As for the CNRS

probes to detect radiation with very high sensi-tivity. In the cavity experiments, these probes,called Rydberg atoms, cross the cavity and carryaway with them a print of the photonic state,just like X-rays can take prints of a body’s inter-nal structures. In this way, the photons’ state isrevealed as an abstract picture containing all theinformation about its quantum features. Suchstudies of single quantum systems would haveamazed Bohr, Heisenberg, or Schrödinger.

Haroche’s interest in science began whenhe arrived in Paris in 1956, after a childhoodspent in Casablanca (Morocco). In high school,he discovered a passion for math and realizedwith amazement that nature obeyed mathemat-ical laws. Admitted to the prestigious “EcoleNormale Supérieure” (ENS) in 1963, he partic-ularly appreciated the fact that he could imme-diately start working in a research lab.

Three years later, he began working on hisPhD in the Laboratoire de SpectroscopieHertzienne at ENS (now renamed LaboratoireKastler Brossel1), which was—and still is—at theforefront of quantum physics research. At thetime, major leaders in the field were workingthere, like Jean Brossel, who was later awardedthe CNRS Gold Medal (1984), or Alfred Kastler,the winner of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Physics.His thesis advisor, Claude Cohen Tannoudji(1997 Nobel Prize in Physics) guided Haroche’sfirst steps into the world of atoms and photons.

Niels Bohr once argued that truth and claritycould not simultaneously be achieved, butSerge Haroche’s work shows us that they

can be,” says MIT Professor Daniel Kleppner,talking about the 2009 CNRS Gold Medallaureate.

As the leading pioneer of quantum theory,Niels Bohr, together with Werner Heisenberg,Erwin Schrödinger, and a few other scientificheavyweights, revealed the strange world of theinfinitesimally small. They imagined a numberof thought experiments to illustrate the statesuperposition of particles, and Serge Haroche,now 65, has worked hard over the last 30 yearsto turn these experiments into reality.

At such a scale, one can neither measurenor accurately predict both the velocity andposition of a particle at the same time: it can beboth here and there, or spin clockwise and coun-terclockwise. The quantum systems are so tospeak “suspended” between different classicalrealities, their state being described by so-called“quantum superpositions.” “In our work, weobserve the state superpositions of systems madeof a few particles,” Haroche explains. “Our goalis to catch the moment when a system ceases tobe quantum and becomes classical. Thistransition from one world to the other is calleddecoherence. It happens because the coherenceof the system is somewhat disturbed by itsmacroscopic environment which forces it to takean unambiguous stand in the classicalrealm.”

Haroche has become a master inthe art of catching quantum coher-ence, i.e., the state superpositions ofparticles. To observe this phenome-non, he confines a few photons to a trap(see box), forcing them to bounce backand forth, more than a billion times,between two highly reflective mirrors.In this device, called an electromag-netic cavity, the captive photons survivemore than a tenth of a second beforedecaying into the mirrors. This givesHaroche enough time to observe theirquantum state and witness thedecoherence phenomenon.

In the 1970s, he was the first tosuggest using highly excited atoms as

Serge Haroche: Photon Tamer 20 09 CNRS GOLD MEDAL

Serge Haroche is the recipient of the 2009 CNRS Gold Medal, the highest French scientific award.This outstanding physicist was able to carry out some of the most elaborate thought experimentsever imagined by the inventors of quantum physics, over a hundred years ago, in order to observethe infinitesimally small.

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LIVEFROMTHELABS Profile

CATS IN A CAVITY

Cavity experiments carried out by the team atthe Laboratoire Kastler Brossel (LKB) study thestrange nature of the principle of superpositionby performing what physicists call a“Schrödinger’s cat” experiment, in reference toa famous thought experiment formulated byErwin Schrödinger in 1935. To illustrate the superposition of particle states,Schrödinger imagined the following set-up: in asealed box are placed a cat and a flask ofpoison whose condition depends on the stateof a radioactive atom. If the atom decays, theflask shatters, killing the cat. If it doesn’t decay,

the flask remains intact, andthe cat alive. According toquantum theory, there is atime during which the stateof the atom is uncertain: it isjust as likely to havedecayed as to have remainedintact. In other words, theatom is in a superposition oftwo states, and so is the cat:there is no way of knowingwhether it is dead or alive, itis both things at once.In the experiments at LKB,the cat is replaced by a

Serge Haroche and hiscolleague Igor Dotsenko aresetting up a cavity experiment.©

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CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Serge HarocheLKB, [email protected]

handful of photons (from the microwave region of the electromagneticspectrum). To capture the superposition of states, the team seals up thephotons in a cavity, or more specifically between two circular walls 5 cmin diameter that face each other. The walls are covered with ultra-high-reflectivity mirrors cooled to a near absolute zero temperature. In this set-up, the photons bounce back and forth between the walls over a billiontimes, which means that they travel 40,000 km, the same distance as thecircumference of Earth. This considerably delays the moment at whichthey are absorbed by the mirrors. Their lifespan is extended to 130milliseconds, which is enough time to observe the quantum system beforedecoherence takes place.But how can the quantum system be prepared in a Schrödinger cat stateand then be observed? The key is to prepare and detect it with specialprobe atoms—atoms placed in a Rydberg state through laserexcitation1—which are extremely sensitive to microwave photons.Crossing the cavity one by one, the Rydberg atoms manage to carry animprint of the field state without absorbing light energy or significantlydisturbing the system. From these imprints, the team creates a “quantummap,” a kind of image of the state of the field trapped in the cavity. Twopeaks can be distinguished, the signatures of classical states (theequivalent of the “dead” and “alive” states of Schrödinger’s cat) betweenwhich are interference fringes, signs of quantum superposition. When aquantum map of the field as a function of time is created, the fringesprogressively fade away, revealing the process of quantum decoherence.

E.B.

1. Named after the physicist Johannes Rydberg, one of the founders of atomicspectroscopy.

Gold Medal, “I consider it an acknowledgmentof a team’s work and a mark of CNRS’ com-mitment to basic research,” he says.

Haroche is already thinking about the future,with a full program ahead: “Our objective is toimprove the cavity experiments in order to con-trol decoherence: we want to find ways to delayit as much as possible and better understandwhy it occurs,” he adds. He also wants to furthersome of the possible applications of his work inquantum information physics. “This field hasbeen thriving over the last 15 years and has ledto the development of innovative technologiessuch as quantum cryptography.”

Haroche is a team player and never missesan opportunity to pay tribute to his studentsand co-workers, primarily Jean-Michel Raimondand Michel Brune, who have been his studentsand are now his colleagues and co-workers at theKastler Brossel laboratory. “I could have donenothing without them,” he says. “The workrewarded today is their achievement as much asit is mine.”

Emilie Badin

1. CNRS / ENS Paris / Université Paris-VI.

“Our goal is to catchthe moment when asystem ceases to bequantum andbecomes classical.”


18 COVERSTORY

Nanotechnology is already a partof everyday life. Carbonnanotubes, for instance, are usedin the manufacturing of golf clubsand golf balls, as well as bicycleframes. Nanomaterials are alsoused in cosmetics (sunscreen,anti-ageing creams, etc.), tires,electronics, paints and varnishes,or anti-bacterial systems in somewashing machines. ©

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NANO-TECHNO-LOGY UPDATE

Nanoscience and nanotechnologyare developing so fast that they arenow among the top fields inresearch and innovation acrossEurope, the US, and Asia, and are

thus playing an increasingly important role inthe global economy. Currently estimated at €100billion, analysts forecast that the internationalnanotechnology market will reach €1.7 trillionby 2014 and make up an astonishing 15% of theworld’s manufacturing output. We are far indeedfrom nanotechnology’s first faltering steps, andUS physicist Richard Feynman’s provocative1959 lecture in which he stated that the entireEncyclopaedia Britannica could fit on the headof a pin. “There is plenty of room at the bottom,”he prophetically remarked.

No longer confined to the laboratory,nanotechnology is now very much a part ofeveryday life, with the ubiquitous presence ofnanoelectronics in the computing field, theencapsulation of drugs in nanoparticles, ormicrodevices for medical analysis and diagnosis.

Then, there are nanostructured titanium nitridecoatings to extend the lifespan of cutting tools,nanofiltration of ground water and wastewater,silver nanocrystals as an antimicrobial barrierin band-aids, inorganic nanoparticlesincorporated into paints as additives to increasetheir resistance to abrasion, inorganicnanoparticles used as UV absorber in sunscreen,nanocatalysts, nanocomposite packagingmaterials, and so on.

“In the race towards ever-increasingminiaturization, electronics was without a doubtat the cutting-edge five years ago,” says Jean-Michel Lourtioz, director of the Institute forFundamental Electronics (IEF).2 “But today, research that blends micro- andnanotechnology with biology and medicine alsoblossoms at the forefront, and is makingsignificant progress.”

ENTER THE NANOWORLDTo begin with, it is worth defining some terms.Nanoscience “aims to explore the novel

Four years ago, CNRS International Magazine covered thespectacular take-off of nanoscience and nanotechnology, set torevolutionize entire disciplines, from medicine to electronics. Whatprogress has been made since then? Are there already real-worldapplications? Have there been any catastrophic failures? What newchallenges face today’s researchers—and what is France’s role inthis rapidly-expanding field? Last October, the country’s publicdebate commission (CNDP),1 launched a national debate onnanotechnology. CNRS International Magazine revisits the field andexplores its latest discoveries to take a look at the current state ofplay. Our first finding? That nanotechnology is indeed delivering onits promise. Special report by Philippe Testard-Vaillant

>CNRS International Magazine n° 16 January 2010

19COVERSTORY

-Cover of the Spring2006 edition of CNRSInternationalMagazine. Four yearson, what are the latestdevelopments innanotechnology?

NANOSCIENCE VSNANOTECHNOLOGY How well is France doing in this highlyaggressive international competition? With some3500 yearly publications on the subject, Francetakes an honorable fifth place, behind the US,Japan, China, and Germany. As for research innanotechnology, France, with less than 2% ofworldwide patents, is at a considerable disadvantage.

In this field, “France is in the ‘ivory tower’ cat-egory,” says Alain Costes, from LAAS.6 “In otherwords, we have problems turning the results ofour scientific research into technical innovationsthat can boost economic growth through filingpatents. And without a strong reaction within theFrench scientific community, faced with extremelysuccessful newcomers such as Taiwan, SouthKorea, Singapore, Israel, and Russia, we will grad-ually fall even further behind the group of nations

There are already a dozen or sonanodrugs on the market, mainly aimedat treating cancer (Caelyx, Doxil, etc.)or serious fungal infections(Ambisome), or used for liver imaging(Endorem).The nanoparticles used in these drugsare 70 times smaller than a red bloodcell and are completely biodegradable.They deliver their active principlesdirectly to the diseased organ, tissue,or cell. Yet not all these nanomedicineshave the same properties.First-generation nanomedicines arerecognized by the immune system as foreignbodies and are therefore eliminated via theliver, which makes them very useful, but onlyfor liver diseases. On the other hand, second-generationnanocarriers—so-called “stealth”—arecovered with hydrophilic, flexible polymersthat make them invisible to the immunesystem. These nanovectors remain in thegeneral bloodstream for a much longer

period, and can beused to target otherafflictions, likedegenerative braindiseases. Third-generationnanocarriers are now

being introduced. “Their main advantage isthat they are decorated by ‘homing devices’(such as vitamins, hormones, antibodies,peptides, etc.) that can selectively recognizethe targeted diseased cells,” explains PatrickCouvreur, director of the PPB laboratory.1

These hyper-miniaturized “missiles” can alsocarry metal nanoparticles, meaning that thedrug can be released at will via ultrasound orradio-frequency heating.Another application of nanovectors that lookshighly promising is the delivery of chunks ofDNA to cells. “Completely replacing adefective or missing gene is still extremelytricky,” says Couvreur. “Yet nanovectors couldbe engineered to deliver small fragments ofnucleic acids so as to inhibit, for example, theexpression of a cancer or a viral gene.”

1. Laboratoire Physicochimie, pharmacotechnie,biopharmacie (CNRS / Université Paris-XI).

Ô Patrick [email protected]

physical, chemical, and mechanical propertiesthat matter takes on at scales of a billionth of ameter, while nanotechnology tries to make useof such properties in all sorts of marketable end-products,” explains Claude Weisbuch, of thePMC laboratory.3 There are two ways of makingnano-objects: the top-down approach, which con-sists in gradually shrinking material structuresuntil you finally reach dimensions that are lessthan 100 nm; or the bottom-up approach, whichconsists in manipulating matter such as atomsand molecules so that they build nano-objects.

For purists like Christian Joachim, fromCEMES,4 the term nanotechnology should berestricted to the latter approach. He believes thatthe definition has become far too broad, and thatin 95% of the cases, the term “nanotechnology”is wrongly used.

In fact, when it comes to building objectsatom by atom, or experimenting with a singlemolecule, there has been tremendous progressover the past five years, which can be attributedto scanning tunneling microscopes (STM) andatomic force microscopes.5 “Very recently,researchers at the IBM Research center in Zurichsucceeded in mapping chemical bonds inside amolecule of pentacene,” Joachim enthuses. Thisis a bit like using X-rays to see inside the humanbody. Yet the most fascinating progress is in thefield of mechanics. “We can make molecule-motors, molecule-gears, molecule-wheelbar-rows, etc., with sizes of one to two nanometers.There’s even an ‘entertaining’ international com-petition on who can make the first molecule-carequipped with four wheels and an engine!Though no one really knows what applicationsthese molecule-machines might have, this isteaching us how to design machines or circuitsin a single molecule.”

>

Precision DRUGS

Researchers incubatenanodrugs with mouse cancercells to screen for novelanticancer drugs.


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Liposomes, vesiclesmeasuring tens tohundreds ofnanometers, makeexcellentnanovectors fordrugs.

that will play a leading international role in theeconomic development of nanotechnology.”

As a result, last May saw the launch of theNano-Innov plan. Last year, it was provided witha €70 million budget to be managed by theFrench National Research Agency (ANR), whichis already granted for 2010. The program is setto create three major technological integrationcenters at Saclay (south of Paris), Toulouse, and

Grenoble. “These three complementary clus-ters will make it possible, for the first time inthis key sector, to closely associate scientificresearch and industrial development,” saysPierre Guillon, director of CNRS’ Institute forEngineering and System Sciences (INSIS).7 Theaim is not to curb nanoscience research, butrather to “make a number of top-level academicgroups aware of the potential applications of

their work,” adds Costes. Eventually, eachintegration center will have shared facilitiescovering the entire range of nanotechnology,and will thus be in an ideal position to workhand-in-hand with industry.

With around 170 laboratories and 2000researchers involved, CNRS is a serious contributorto the plan, and has indeed set nanoscience andnanotechnology as a major scientific priority.

street and industrial lighting.” To get around this problem,researchers make use ofphotonic crystals, a type of lightcage made up of a regulararrangement of nanostructuresthat works like reflective roadsigns. This should “improve thedirectionality of LEDs,”comments Henri Benisty, fromLCFIO,3 “preventing them fromdispersing light in all directions.”

1. Centre de recherche sur l’hétéroépitaxie et sesapplications (CNRS).2. The lumen is the unit of light flux.3. Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l’Institut d’Optique(CNRS / Université Paris-XI).

Ô Jean-Yves [email protected]Ô Henri [email protected]

The future is already bright forlight-emitting diodes (LEDs), whichare based on semi-conductingmaterials—mainly gallium nitride. In factnot a month goes by without engineersfinding a new use for LEDs in televisionsets, remote controls, automobiles, cellphones, street and interior lighting, etc.“But we’re now trying to incorporatenanocrystals into them, rather than theconventional layers that convert blue toyellow, as in fluorescent tubes,” explainsJean-Yves Duboz, director of CNRS’Research Center for Heteroepitaxy andits Applications (CRHEA).1

Nanocrystals emit photons (light) whenelectrons (i.e., an electric current) passthrough them, and the color of the lightemitted depends on the size of thenanocrystal. “White light is obtained by aclever mix of red, blue, and greenphotons, which means that you have tocouple three LEDs,” explains Duboz.“What we’re trying to do here is to

develop LEDs that only use a singlecrystal that can directly emit all colors. To do this, we insert nanometer-sizedcomponents in the crystal, which are littlechunks of various sizes that emit blue,green, red, etc., together producing whitelight. On paper, it’s an ideal solution,though for the moment our LEDs are stillnot powerful enough.” Although theiroutput is actually very efficient, the whiteLEDs now on the market have a luminousefficacy of 100 lumens2 per watt (lm/W),as opposed to 60 to 80 lm/W forfluorescent lamps and 16 lm/W forincandescent bulbs. “There areprototypes that reach close to 200 lm/W,”Duboz continues. “But if LEDs are veryefficient when they work at low currents,their efficacy falls offa little (75 lm/W) atthe higher currentsneeded for cheaper

Photonic crystalscould soon be

used to improveLED efficiency.

>CNRS International Magazine n° 16 January 2010

21COVERSTORY

Let there be NANOLIGHT

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Scanning electronmicroscope imageof micro-disks ofaluminum galliumnitride, a semi-conductor used tomake LEDs.

Test set for the light-emitting propertiesof LEDs.

Biosensors and biochips are progressingby leaps and bounds, and feature amongthe most exciting new approaches innanobiotechnology. Biosensors, thoughstill at the prototype stage, “are used todetect a particular ‘biological species’(such as DNA, proteins, viruses, etc.), forinstance in a highly complex system likea drop of blood,” explains Anne-MarieGué, of LAAS.1

“The possibilities opened up bynanotechnology are far-reaching. For example, scientists can use‘probes’—DNA strands, or antibodies—grafted on silicon nanowires ornanobeams to catch specific molecules.”When the target binds to an ultra-sensitive microbeam, the beam starts tovibrate, showing that the target moleculehas been captured, while the rest of thesystem analyzes it. “At the Institute forFundamental Electronics (IEF),2 we aredeveloping a novel nano-biosensor. Eachbeam has an internal channel etched intoit along which biological fluid cancirculate. So the beam itself is notimmersed in the fluid,” explains Jean-Michel Lourtioz. “This trick makes iteasier to detect variations in theamplitude or in the frequency ofvibration.” And then there are biochips, alreadyused by some medical laboratories.

Rather than identifying a single moleculein a biological sample, “the objectivehere is to carry out a large number ofanalyses at the same time,” says Gué. To do this, the biochips are made up of asolid substrate (glass, plastic, or silicon)covered with a microarray of tiny sites onwhich are placed molecules of DNA,proteins, or chemical groups that canspecifically capture complementary DNAor RNA (DNA chips), or proteins (proteinchips). “A DNA chip is able tosimultaneously analyze anywherebetween dozens and thousands ofdifferent DNA sequences to identify a virus or detect a specific marker for a disease.” Unlike biosensors, signalreadout is not incorporated into thebiochip, but carried out by externalinstruments. “One promisingdevelopment, where both technologieswould meet, is the integration of nanobio-sensors at each site of a biochip,” addsGué. But the real challenge is to integratecomplete analytical procedures on verysmall surface areas. Biosensors andbiochips could thus become a “lab-on-a-chip” (LOC). In such a device, it wouldeven be possible to integrate lasers, madefrom semi-conducting nanostructures ofthe gallium nitride (GaN) and zinc oxide(ZnO) families, which are very much infashion at CRHEA.3 “We’re testing thefeasibility of a nanolaser based on GaNnanowires emitting in the ultraviolet,”says researcher Jesús Zúñiga Pérez.Approximately 100 nm across, this laser,integrated on an LOC, could be used to excite organic molecules in abiological sample and analyze thecomposition of such molecules. But inorder to develop these pocket-size labs,researchers need to master fluiddynamics for volumes of less than ananoliter, and to be able to manipulatebiological species right down to the levelof a single cell.

1. Laboratoire d’analyse et d’architecture dessystèmes (CNRS).2. Institut d’électronique fondamentale (CNRS /Université Paris-XI).3. Centre de recherche sur l’hétéroépitaxie et sesapplications (CNRS).

Ô Anne-Marie Gué[email protected]


Ô Jesús Zúñiga Pé[email protected]

Nanomanufacturingtechnologies areused to develop toolsfor biology ormedicine, like thebiochips shown here.

This biochip allowsanalysis ofthousands ofproteins or DNAsequences.

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ETHICAL ISSUESAlthough nanotechnology opens up manyexciting prospects, for some it is already a sourceof concern.”Nanotechnology carries its shareof worries,” admits Robert Plana, of LAAS. “Itcomes at a time when science and technologyare already under fire from all sides. But if theuncertainties and risks associated withnanotechnology must be explored, scientificallynaive and exaggerated warnings should beavoided.”

As Weisbuch explains, some people areworried about the invisibility of nano-objects,which implies that exposure could go completelyunnoticed. In fact, frequently, nano-objects arenot used in nanometer-sized form, but are incor-porated into a clearly visible material device likean integrated circuit, for example. The fact thatnanotechnology will provide new means to facil-itate access and storage of vast amounts of data,including genetic and computer records of indi-viduals, is more worrying. This will no doubtraise new issues with regard to the protectionof privacy and freedom.

One key question is whether the large-scalemanufacturing of nanostructured materials willlead to the uncontrolled release into theenvironment of nanoparticles, some of whichmay be harmful to our health. Among the manypublic concerns linked to nanotechnology, “thisissue has garnered the most media attention,”says Stéphanie Lacour, of CECOJI.8 “Right fromthe start, a parallel was established betweennanotechnology and the precedents set by asbestosand biotechnology—especially GMOs,” whichhad a profound effect in France. Until a fewmonths ago, “there was no specific legal text appli-cable to nanotechnology, either in France or inEurope,” Lacour points out. “But things are mov-ing now. In March and April of 2009, the Euro-pean Parliament approved two resolutions on thepresence of nanomaterials in cosmetic productsand food. And the French ‘Grenelle Law,’ whoseArticle 42 deals with risks related to nanoparti-cles, was passed on August 3rd, 2009.”

Above all, a new discipline is in rapid expan-sion: nanotoxicology, whose aim is to describeand quantify the dangers of nanomaterials.

“Today there are approximately 2000 articlesconcerning the ecotoxicity of nanoparticles, asopposed to a mere 50 or so five years ago,” saysÉric Gaffet, of the NanoMaterials ResearchGroup.9 “Yet there is an evident shortage, at botha national and international level, of toxicolo-gists and ecotoxicologists working on a subjectthat is not easy to tackle: a simple gram of TiO2

(titanium dioxide) nanoparticles, for instance,can contain up to ten million billion nanopar-ticles, which all differ in size, chemical reactiv-ity, or stability over time.” Characterizing thedistribution of each parameter (size, shape,persistence in tissue or organisms, etc.) in asample is very difficult because “every type ofnanoparticle has a specific potential toxicity whichdepends on its lifecycle,” explains Gaffet. “Givencurrent human and technical means, it wouldtake an estimated 50 years to test the toxicity ofall the nanoparticles already on the market.”

Then in order not to test all nanoparticlesindividually, some research groups, like the oneled by Jean-Yves Bottero at CEREGE10 have devel-oped a procedure that first categorizes

Ever heard of plasmonics?This is a specific field ofnanophotonics. If the latterstudies the behavior of lighton the nanometer scale ingeneral, plasmonicsinvestigates how light surfson the surface of metalsusing the metal’s freeelectrons—and this hasresearchers very excited.It got a boost in 1998, whenThomas Ebbesen, todaydirector of the Institute ofSupramolecular Science and Engineering(ISIS),1 discovered a completelyunexpected phenomenon he dubbed“extraordinary optical transmission” orthe “photon sieve.” “A photon sieve is a network of holespierced in a nanostructured metalsurface, at regular intervals and withdiameters of 100-200 nm, in other wordsconsiderably smaller than the wavelengthof visible light,” explains Henri Benisty, ofLCFIO.2 “When you illuminate thissurface, the quantity of light that comesout on the other side is much larger thanthe fraction that struck the holes. Eventhe light that falls next to the holes is

channeled to the other side of thesample.” Plasmons manage to conveythis light into the holes instead of spoilingor reflecting it. The researchers are trying to make use ofthese unconventional properties to performnew manipulations of light at nanometricscales. “We’re hoping to bring about ultra-localized modifications, far more than whatis possible with a laser, for applications inlithography, in biology—for example in thecompartments inside a cell—or even towrite information at smaller scales on ahard disk,” says Benisty. In addition, plasmonics could improve theefficiency of photovoltaic cells by

improving the captureof light and its furtherconversion withinnanostructuredmaterials. In the field oftelecommunications,the use of photons is inrapid expansion, beingexploited in muchshorter connectionswithin circuit boardsfor their highthroughput. In fact,

optical connections should soon be ableto second electronic connections, even inelectronic circuits (“chips”) themselves.“Ultra-densely packed electronicconnections are negatively affected byinterference and consumption issues,”explains Benisty. “We’re trying to buildnanometrically controlled architectureswhere optics could be used to transmitthe largest or most energy-hungryinformation flows inside chips.” 1. Institut de Science et d’IngénierieSupramoléculaires (CNRS / Université deStrasbourg).2. Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l’Institut d’Optique(CNRS / Université Paris-XI).

Ô Henri Benisty, [email protected]

A nanophotonicstructure used todirect opticalinformation, heretwo channelscarried by twosimilarwavelengths. Thistype of system couldone day be used inelectronic chips.

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23COVERSTORY

The Future of OPTICS

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An exhaustive list of all the nanomaterialscurrently under research or already present ineveryday life would be impossible. But leadingthem all—and by far—are the famous carbonnanotubes, which were discovered in 1991 andhave become the showcase of nanoscience.These nanomaterials take the form of hollowcylinders whose surface is made up of one orseveral rolled up sheets of carbon. They aredistinguished especially by their mechanicalproperties—they are a hundred times tougherand six times lighter than steel, and canundergo considerable deformation underbending and torsional stress—and by theiroutstanding electrical conductivity. The use of carbon nanotubes, already foundtoday in a variety of objects, ranging fromtennis rackets to bicycle frames and Formula 1car bodies, “is constantly making new ground,with 7000 publications and 2500 patentsthroughout the world in 2008,” says PascaleLaunois, from the LPS1 in Orsay.

“We are particularly interested in new so-called nanohybrids. These are nanotubesinside which are inserted various molecules to try and alter their mechanical or electronicproperties.” The cylindrical cavity of certainnanotubes—those made up of a single wall—can be used to synthesize molecular chainsthat exist nowhere else. As Launois explains,“peapods, for example, so called because oftheir resemblance to real peapods, are madeup of chains of C60 fullerene2 molecules insidenanotubes. Fullerenes and other molecules thatare confined to nanometric scales in this wayhave novel physical properties. It might be along way off, but we can already imagineapplications for filtration, desalination of seawater, or storage of radioactive waste.”

1. Laboratoire de Physique des Solides (CNRS / UniversitéParis-XI).2. C60 fullerene contains 60 carbon atoms arranged in asoccer ball-like structure.

Ô Pascale Launois, [email protected]


24 COVERSTORY

The environment could also benefit fromnanotechnology, particularly when it comes to wastewater treatment. Researchers areworking on the possible use of nanoparticles of metal oxides (iron, titanium, cerium,aluminum, etc.) to treat wastewater or clean upcontaminated ground. “When a surface coatedwith a nanofilm of titanium oxide is exposed tosunlight, it can break down organic pollutants(pesticides) and potentially dangerous disease-causing microorganisms (bacteria and viruses)present in water. But this technique is stilluncommon, and only used for the treatment ofeffluents containing a limited number ofpollutants,” explains Jean-Yves Bottero from

CEREGE.1 In another process, ceramicmembranes based on nanoparticles of ironoxyhydroxide (ferroxanes) are used for thenanofiltration of polluted effluents. This greenchemistry holds out great promise, especially in developing countries where water is oftencontaminated.

1. Centre Européen de Recherche et d’Enseignement desGéosciences de l’Environnement (CNRS / IRD / Universitéde Provence / Université Paul-Cézanne / Collège deFrance).

Ô Jean-Yves Bottero, [email protected]

Ô Jérôme Rose, [email protected]

Each year, the components of integratedcircuits get increasingly smaller. Theyhave shrunk from 90 nm in 2004 to a mere45 nm1 today, and the silicon waferindustry plans to get them down to 15—oreven 10 nm. The reason for this isstraightforward: the smaller the basiccomponents of integrated circuits—transistors—the more of them can fit on achip, resulting in more computing power.To push miniaturization even further,teams of scientists “are exploring allsorts of avenues, like transistors basedon carbon nanotubes or siliconnanowires, or even on graphene, acrystal made up of carbon atoms,”explains Jean-Michel Lourtioz, director ofthe Institute for Fundamental Electronics.2

Nanoscience experts are trying todevelop structures on atomic andmolecular scales. “The ultimate approachto process information faster is to use justa single atom or a single molecule as abasic electronic building block,” saysHenri Mariette, of the “Nanophysique etSemiconducteurs” group in Grenoble.3

But these so-called quantum electronicsystems are still in their infancy. Another very active field is spinelectronics, or spintronics. Whereastraditional electronics only uses the

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25COVERSTORY

to keep the information stored.”Beside quantum electronics andspintronics, a third type of electronictechnology could well emerge fromnanoscience: plastic electronics.Georges Hadziioannou from LCPO7 isworking on semiconducting polymers,carbon-based materials that haveproperties similar to silicon. Applicationsinclude large flexible display screens orfoldable photovoltaic cells. “Plasticelectronics will not replace conventionalelectronics, but complement it,” addsHadziioannou. Semiconducting polymershave the significant advantage of beingflexible, which means, for example, thatthey could be placed inside clothing. Andabove all, they are easier and cheaper toproduce than traditional integratedcircuits.

1. The size of the “grid,” one of the three electrodesthat make up a transistor.2. Institut d’électronique fondamentale (CNRS /Université Paris-XI).3. Research group belonging to the Institut Néel(CNRS / Université Joseph Fourier) and to the CEA /INAC Grenoble.4. Electrons can be thought of as small magnets,whose orientation is defined by spin. 5. Discovered by Albert Fert, Nobel laureate inphysics. 6. CNRS / Thalès in association with UniversitéParis-XI.7. Laboratoire de chimie des polymères organiques(CNRS / Université Bordeaux-I).

Ô Henri Mariette, [email protected]

Ô Frédéric Nguyen Van [email protected]

Ô Georges Hadziioannou, [email protected]


electron’s electric charge to send signalsthrough a network of transistors,spintronics makes use of the electron’smagnetic properties. This physicalproperty is already being used to storeinformation on hard disks in computersand servers. Pushing this technology further,researchers hope to use the orientationof electron spin4 to memorize informationin circuits that combine electronics andmagnetism. More specifically, spintronics“has given rise to the discovery of other

physical properties since the alreadywell-known giant magnetoresistanceeffect,5” says Frédéric Van Dau, directorof the CNRS/Thales Joint Physics Unit.6

“Some phenomena, like ‘spin transfer,’even make it possible to foresee a type ofmemory that could work without havingto apply magnetic fields to storeinformation, unlike current devices. Thistechnique should enhance and speed-upthe wide-accessibility of MagneticRandom Access Memory (MRAM), whichis both faster and does not require energy

o of ELECTRONICS

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Inside view showingthe substrates onwhich thenanostructures aremanufactured.

Example of copolymer-based nanostructuresused to designphotovoltaic cells.

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This silicon nanowire,observed by transmissionelectron microscopy, wasobtained by vapor-liquid-solid growth from a gold

droplet in the presence of silane. The white stains

are gold aggregatesselectively formed on the

nanowire walls.

nanoparticles in terms of physico-chemicalproperties and then tries to compare and some-how classify and generalize the biological effects.

Can we already affirm that nanomaterialsconstitute a genuine health and environmen-tal threat? There is no evidence that they do—but unfortunately, nor is there evidence that theydon’t. “Nanomaterials should be consideredpotentially dangerous, as indicated in the reportof the French Agency for Environmental andOccupational Health Safety published in June2008,”11 adds Gaffet. “Toxicity tests carried outon animal and cell models demonstrate thatcertain nanomaterials are specifically dangerous,and that they can cross certain biological barriers.However, much more work must be done beforereaching a conclusion on that matter.” More-over, the importance of environmental risks alsoneeds to be evaluated.

SEEKING PROTECTIONDo we know how to protect ourselves fromnanoparticles when they are sprayed as aerosols?Current systems such as fiber filters placed inventilation systems or in the respiratory masksworn by operators are very efficient. The mosteffective filters manage to trap over 99.99% of4 nm-sized particles. Particles of 100-500 nmare not as easy to stop, which refutes thewidespread idea that the effectiveness of filtersdepends solely on the size of its pores. But therehas been progress: “By using electrically charged fiber filters and playing on electrostaticeffects to modify the path of particles and facilitate their capture, we are already able toneutralize between 95% and 99% of large

nanoparticles,” says Dominique Thomas, ofLSGC.12

Finally, do scientists spend enough timethinking about the ethical and societal impactof their research? Not for philosopher and science historian Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent,from CNRS’ Ethics Committee (COMETS).“French researchers recognize the need to assess the possible toxicity of nanotechnology,”she says. “But most of them are still reluctant to explore any long-term effect it may have.”Bensaude-Vincent regrets the fact that “save fora few laboratories, there is no place whereresearchers can talk about their doubts andconcerns.” Jacques Bordé, of COMETS, thinksthat promoting direct dialog between scientists and the public is another necessity. “This implies training scientists to not simply considertheir research from the viewpoint of the scientificchallenge, but also in regards to ethical issues.Thinking about ethical issues doesn’t preventcreativity, it may even stimulate it.”

1. Commission nationale du débat public.2. Institut d’électronique fondamentale (CNRS / UniversitéParis-XI).3. Laboratoire de Physique de la matière condensée (CNRS/École polytechnique).4. Centre d’élaboration des matériaux et d’étudesstructurales (CNRS).5. The scanning tunneling microscope uses an extremelyfine metal needle, which is moved over the surface to bestudied at a distance of just a few atoms. This makes itpossible to locate and manipulate the atoms on thesample’s surface. The atomic force microscope worksaccording to the same principle, but is used to explore non-conducting samples and especially biological material.6. Laboratoire d’analyse et d’architecture des systèmes(CNRS).7. Institut des sciences de l’ingénierie et des systèmes. 8. Centre d’études sur la coopération juridique

internationale (CNRS / Université de Poitiers).9. Research group belonging to the Institut de recherchesur les archéomatériaux (CNRS / Université de technologiede Belfort-Montbéliard / Université Bordeaux-III /Université d’Orléans).10. Centre Européen de Recherche et d’Enseignement desGéosciences de l’Environnement (CNRS / IRD / Universitéde Provence / Université Paul-Cézanne / Collège deFrance).11. The report, entitled “Nanomatériaux et sécurité autravail” (Nanomaterials and Occupational Safety), isavailable at the Documentation française website.(www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr)12. Laboratoire des sciences du génie chimique (CNRS).


26 COVERSTORY

>

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Bernadette [email protected]

Ô Jacques Bordé[email protected]

Ô Alain Costes, [email protected]

Ô Éric Gaffet, [email protected]

Ô Pierre [email protected]

Ô Christian [email protected]

Ô Stéphanie [email protected]


Ô Robert Plana, [email protected]

Ô Dominique [email protected]

Ô Claude [email protected]

Ô Jean-Yves Bottero [email protected]

The definitive answer to vehiclepollution could well be the fuel cell,which uses pure hydrogen and produces no harmful emissions. But anumber of problems need to be solved before this technology can see thelight of day. Nanotechnology may helpsolve one of them: the storage andavailability of hydrogen. So far, the most reliable and economical

means suggested tostore hydrogen is touse porous materials.This would make itpossible, on the onehand to confine

the hydrogen, and on the other to release it easily so that it can combinewith oxygen in the air. Among suchmaterials, carbon nanoforms, in otherwords all carbon structures, “turn out tobe very serious contenders because oftheir low mass and high absorptioncapacity,” explains CRMD1 directorMarie-Louise Saboungi. “Work iscurrently focusing on carbon nanohorns,which were discovered in the 1990s.These are materials two to threenanometers long that assemble to formdahlia-shaped structures 80 to 100nanometers in diameter. Hydrogen’sinteraction with nanohorns is much

NANOHORNS for Storing Hydrogen

Dahlia-shapedcarbon structurescalled nanohornsare promisingcandidates for thestorage of hydrogen.

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BOOKS> Understanding CarbonNanotubes: From Basics toApplications, Annick Loiseau,Pascale Launois, Pierre Petit,Stephan Roche, and Jean-Pierre Salvetat (Eds.) (Berlin:Springer, 2006).

> Nanosciences:The InvisibleRevolution,Christian Joachim& LaurencePlevert (London:World Scientific,2009).

> Introduction to Nanoscience,Stuart Lindsay (Oxford: OUP,2009).

> Recent advances in quantumdot physics, Jean-MichelGérard and Henri Mariette(Paris: Elsevier Masson, 2008).

> EnvironmentalNanotechnology,Mark. R. Wiesnerand Jean-YvesBottero (New-York: McGraw-Hill, 2007).

> Nanoparticles in BiomedicalImaging, Jeff W.M. Bulte,Michael M.J. Modo, (Eds.)(New-York: Springer, 2008).

> Macromolecular AnticancerTherapeutics, L. HarivardhanReddy and Patrick Couvreur

(New York: Springer, 2010, inpress).

FILMS> Nanosciences,Nanotechnologies (2008, 160 min) by Hervé Colombani,Marcel Dalaise, Alain Monclinand François Tisseyre.Production: CNRS Images.From electronics to biology, from chemistry to ethics, thisDVD will make you discovernanoscience, its numerousapplications, and the issues itraises.http://videotheque.cnrs.fr/index.php?urlaction=doc&id_doc=1909&rang=1

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

stronger than with carbon nanotubes. So these tiny horns trap hydrogen moreeasily than their close relatives.”Moreover, nanohorns retain most of theadsorbed hydrogen at temperatures ashigh as 20°C, contrary to carbonnanotubes which need low temperatures for hydrogen storage(below -200°C). Along with these many advantages, one snag remains:their relatively high manufacturing cost.

1. Centre de recherche sur la matière divisée (CNRS / Université d’Orléans).

Ô Marie-Louise Saboungi, [email protected]

g Hydrogen

Biology is another field wherenanotechnology has real and excitingapplications. Biologists are particularlyinterested in semiconducting nanocrystals(or “quantum dots”) devised in the past fewyears by physical chemists, which theywould like to use as probes to explorebiological processes at the molecular scale. These objects are made up of several tensor hundreds of thousands of atomsarranged in a crystal lattice structure, withan overall size of approximately 2-8 nm.When excited by light—a laser, forexample—they become fluorescent.

The trick is to attach the quantum dots to biological molecules such as proteins(enzymes, antibodies) or nucleic acids(DNA, RNA). The light emissionwavelength can then be chosen byvarying their size (the smaller thenanoparticles, the more the emission isshifted towards blue), which would makeit possible to distinguish biologicalprocesses from one another. “In fact, thenanoparticles behave like tiny light bulbsthat can be tracked for several tens ofminutes using a microscope,” explainsMaxime Dahan, of the Kastler-Brossel

Laboratory (LKB).1 “They tell us in realtime about the motion and position of thebiological players to which they areattached.” Such imaging techniques at thelevel of individual nanoparticles, whichwere only just beginning to emerge fiveyears ago, have since been vastlyimproved and are finding a greaternumber of applications. They let us “see” beyond the cellmembrane what occurs inside the cell, aregion which until now was extremely hardto access. Eventually, by attaching probesof different colors to different proteins, itwill be possible to record the motion of allthese players simultaneously and studytheir interactions in vivo.” This will improveour understanding of the complexity of theinnermost mechanisms of living organisms. So far, this technology has only beenapplied to cultured cells, but researchershope to eventually use it in vivo, whichshould lead to major improvements inmedicine. In particular, by makingbiological imaging ultrasensitive, it shouldhelp both physicians and surgeons identifythe smallest tumors and metastasis, on thescale of a hundred thousand rather than abillion cells.

1. Laboratoire Kastler Brossel (CNRS / École normalesupérieure / Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie).

Ô Maxime [email protected]

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SHEDDINGlight on the

AutochromeThe Lumière family was not only innovative in cinema, but also in photography, where its inventions made a considerable mark.At the start of the 20th century, the Lumière brothers marketedthe Autochrome plate, the first industrial color photographyprocess based, surprisingly, on potato starch. Two Frenchresearchers recently revisited the Autochrome, conceived notwithout difficulty and protected by secrecy for many years.

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Soon the whole world will run wild withcolor, and the Lumière brothers will beresponsible,” intuitively proclaimed theAmerican photographer Alfred Stieglitz

when the Autochrome plate was first put on sale in1907. And this industrial color photography processenjoyed considerable success, as the Lumière brotherswent on to sell millions of Autochrome plates overthe following decades. To better understand thetechnology behind the Autochrome, researchersBertrand Lavédrine, director of the CRCC,1 andJean-Paul Gandolfo, professor at the film schoolENS Louis-Lumière, decided to revive it, more thanhalf a century after it went out of production.

Painstakingly recreating the steps involved inmaking Autochromes, they began by selectingminuscule grains of potato starch, dyeing themviolet, green, or orange, and mixing them. Theythen sprinkled millions of these grains onto avarnished glass plate and added lampblack—sootfrom oil lamps—to fill the gaps between the grains.

This was followed by lamination—pressing theplate—and a second application of varnish. Thefinal step—the most difficult to recreate by hand onsmall plates in a dark room—was the applicationof the final layer of the Autochrome, a black andwhite emulsion of gelatino silver bromide, a light-sensitive substance which requires particular care.

The device works on the basis of “additive colorsynthesis,” the principle that enables all color huesto be created from only three primary colors (red,green, and blue) and which was later to be used intelevision screens. In Autochromes, the photosen-sitive layer is exposed to light rays, which are filteredbeforehand by the dyed grains of starch. Aftertaking the picture and developing it, the silvergrains in the photosensitive layer mask certaincolored grains of starch to a greater or lesser extent,thus recreating the colors of the original imagephotographed. The image appears by viewing thetransparent positive print in a special device or byprojecting it as a slide. “The grains are extremely >

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1 Autochrome self-portrait ofÉdouard Blanc, a chemist at theLumière factory in Monplaisir(Lyon), around 1907.

2 Auguste and Louis Lumière,inventors and industrialists, 1895.

3 4 5 6 7 Several stepsin the reconstitution of anAutochrome: drying then sortingthe starch, coloring solutions fordyeing, sprinkling lampblack, andcoating the second varnish.

8 9 Autochrome tests, around1902-1905, with a negative plate (8)and a positive plate (9), in thelaboratory of Louis Lumière.

10 A press used for flattening thestarch grains has been restoredand is now classified as a historicmonument.

11 Starch lamination. LouisLumière discovered the advantageof lamination accidentally, byscratching the network of starchwith his fingernail. This resulted in better transparency.

12 Diagram of an Autochromeplate. “The plate prepared in thisway is exposed through its backand then developed. Oncereversed, the resulting imagereproduces, through transparency,the colors of the photographedoriginal,” explained Louis Lumièrein 1904.

small, invisible to the naked eye. An optical mix-ture of the different starch colors is then createdwithin the eye... resulting in the palette of colorsvisible in the Autochrome,” explains Lavédrine.

If the underlying principle of the Autochrome(first formulated by French inventor Louis Ducosdu Hauron) is sound, it nevertheless took sevenyears for the mighty Lumière family business,already specialized in photographyand cinema, to launch its indus-trial production. The choice ofstarch for example, a key aspectof the invention, required monthsof head scratching. Potato grainswere preferred to rice grains, whichtake on colors less easily.

For this in-depth study ofAutochromes, Lavédrine andGandolfo also struggled formany years. Not only didthey try to produce thembut, as they explain in theirbook L’Autochrome Lumière,2

they also interviewed the chil-dren of eyewitnesses from the period,dissected laboratory notebooks, and analyzed thedyes in old plates. They also closely examined alamination press, which the Lumière brothers chosenot to patent, probably to keep it unique.Lamination—a crucial phase which, by squashingthe grains against each other, enhanced thetransparency of the granular network—was indeedalluded to in a patent, but only in an elusive manner.Competitors were thus kept at bay. And they neededto be: at the turn of the 20th century, photography,which was invented in 1839, was thriving. Creatingphotographs in color was a major challenge, and theobject of much research and experimentation whichbenefited from the scientific progress on lightphenomena and color recombination.

With the Autochrome, photography finallyadopted color. But the process proved fragile andthe production of Autochrome plates difficult. The

exposure time, approximately onesecond, virtually precluded

instantaneity. Despite boththis weakness and their high price, millions ofAutochrome plates were sold

throughout the world in30 years. In 1931, the glass

plates were replaced by a flexiblesubstrate, but it was only in the mid-

1950s, two decades after the introduction of themore popular Kodachrome, that the invention fellinto obsolescence, and that the Lumière factoryceased production of its Alticolor films, directdescendants of the Autochrome plate. Beside itsobvious historical interest, a more in-depthunderstanding of this technology should no doubthelp us better preserve the existing samples.

Mathieu Hautemulle

1. Centre de recherche sur la conservation des collections(CNRS / Ministère de la culture et de la communication /Muséum national d’histoire naturelle).2. Bertrand Lavédrine and Jean-Paul Gandolfo, L’AutochromeLumière (Paris: Editions du CTHS, 2009).

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Bertrand LavédrineCRCC, [email protected]

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13 Paris, 1918. The author,Auguste Léon, worked for the“Archives de la Planète,” animmense photo- andcinematographic record of theepoch, founded by the bankerAlbert Kahn. Today, the Albert-Kahn Museum archives some72,000 Autochromes.

14 Children dressed up as smallsoldiers. Autochrome by LéonGimpel, press correspondent, 1915.

15 In this Autochrome by ÉdouardBlanc (1908), fields and forestcontrast with poppies.

16 Gabriel Doublier, the managerof a factory in Paris, poses in frontof machines used for mixingstarch, 1931.

17 18 19 Unsorted (17) or sortedand dyed (18) potato starch, andunsorted rice starch (19).

The LEA NaBi was officially inaugurated inMarch 2009 at the Weizmann Institute inRehovot (south of Tel Aviv). But it is also activeon three sites in France: the Institut d’Alembert1

in Cachan near Paris, the French “bridgehead”headed by Zyss; the laboratory of statistical physics(LPS)2 and the PASTEUR chemistry laboratory,3

both at the ENS in Paris; and the Institut Fresnel4

in Marseille. Yet this geographical distance does not affect

the cohesion of the teams involved: “We hostIsraeli researchers for several months, and viceversa,” explains Zyss. “The projects we are work-

ing on provide a daily framework for the activities of the different teams.”

A total of 40 people, divided equally betweenthe two partners, now work for the LEA. Post-doctoral fellows form the backbone of theprogram. “We have seen a growing, spontaneousflow of requests from potential partners whowant to be part of the LEA,” stresses Zyss, whoadmits he is often approached by students eagerto join such a prestigious laboratory. And prestige does play its part, at both an individualand institutional level.

Francesca Grassia, who contributed to settingup the LEA at the CNRS Office of EuropeanAffairs, recalls the importance of this partnership:“The Weizmann Institute is one of the best-per-forming research institutions in the world, bothin terms of scientific results and technologytransfer.” Similarly, CNRS is perceived in Rehovotas a European partner of choice.

As for the LEA NaBi, its future depends onthree major factors. The first is to obtain resultsthat will enhance the reputation of nanobio-science and its applications. The second is thehope that the advances achieved by the laboratorywill result in industrial exploitation. “In thisrespect, the Weizmann Institute and CNRS haveall the expertise necessary,” notes Grassia. Finally,perhaps one day the LEA NaBi could have itsown site. It would then become the first CNRSInternational Joint Research Unit in Israel.

Stéphan Julienne

1. Institut fédératif de recherche (CNRS/ ENS Cachan).2. Laboratoire de physique statistique (CNRS/ ENS Paris/Universités Paris-VI and -VII).3. Processus d’activation sélectif par transfert d’énergie uni-électronique ou radiatif (CNRS/ ENS Paris/ Université Paris-VI).4. CNRS / Universités Aix-Marseille -I and -III / CentraleMarseille.


AROUNDTHEWORLD 31

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Joseph ZyssENS, [email protected]

Ô Francesca GrassiaDAE-CNRS, [email protected]

Set up in January 2008 by CNRS and theWeizmann Institute, the European Asso-ciated Laboratory Nano Bioscience (LEANaBi) is the successful combination of

both scientific and human elements. On the onehand, its creation is motivated by the sharedneed to move forward in this new field whichapplies the methods of nanoscience to biologicalsystems and structures. And on the other hand,it acknowledges the longstanding bond that hasdeveloped between French and Israeli researchers.

Joseph Zyss, who, along with his Israeli coun-terpart Ron Naaman, is the technical and scien-tific co-director of the LEA,was the initiator of thisproject. “In 1990, I launcheda series of biennial Franco-Israeli conferences in physi-cal optics, the FRISNO series,which continue to this day.To a large extent, these confer-ences provided a frameworkfor the development of theLEA. The project now offersan opportunity for greaterunderstanding and apprecia-tion between our twocountries in the field ofphotonics and beyond.”

Little negotiation wastherefore necessary beforethe two institutions signed apreliminary agreement in2007, which led to an initialfour-year renewable jointresearch program. This agree-ment covers a dozen or soprojects that are all related tonanobioscience with aphotonics component. Forexample, teams are workingon the design and produc-tion of biochips for biologicalanalyses, as well as on thedevelopment of systems forthe control of cell differenti-ation, which could both be ofvalue to cancer research.

For the past two years, CNRS and the Weizmann Institute, aprestigious Israeli research institution, have joined forces to explorethe rapidly-growing field of nanobioscience, at the interfacebetween nanoscience and biology.

France and Israel Join Forcesin Nanobioscience

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THE WEIZMANN INSTITUTE

Founded in 1934 as the Daniel Sieff Research Institute, it wasrenamed Weizmann Institute in 1949 and has since beendistinguished on several occasions. Its scientists were responsiblefor developing the RSA cryptography algorithm that is today used forthe security of bank credit cards or for online transactions. One of its2600 members, Ada Yonath, received the 2009 Nobel Prize forchemistry. The Institute’s participation in the LEA NaBi allows Israel,an associate country in EU programs since the end of the 1990s, toreinforce its position in the European Research Area. There is onenoteworthy precedent: the Pasteur-Weizmann Foundation has forthe past 35 years involved scientists from both institutions.

The WeizmanInstitute’s particleaccelerator.

Open-minded and curious about every-thing, Chretien “Chrit” Moonen is theopposite of an ivory tower scientist. TheDutch researcher, now 53, is a polyglot

who speaks Dutch, French, English, and German.Born in the Maastricht region (Netherlands),Moonen grew up on a farm. He admits that thisis maybe what subconsciously drew him to anagricultural university for his early studies. But the

AROUNDTHEWORLD They chose France32

biggest draw was his desire to study the three sub-jects that fascinated him the most: chemistry,physics, and biology.

And though science is undoubtedly his realm,Moonen, unlike many other researchers, has analmost visceral need to see the results of hisresearch put into practice. “Fundamental researchis all very well, but what matters are its clinicalapplications,” he says. Indeed, this explains whyhe has always sought to involve doctors in hiswork on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),like Hervé Trillaud, who has been working withMoonen for the past ten years on real-time control by MRI of several non-invasive technolo-gies aimed at fighting cancer. A radiologist atthe Saint-André hospital in Bordeaux, Trillaudeven says that Moonen is “unhappy when hedoesn’t see doctors in his lab on a regular basis.”

After a memorable year at the Federal Poly-technic School in Zürich, where he studied in thelaboratories of future Nobel Prize winners RichardErnst1 and Kurt Wüthrich,2 it was in 1983, the yearof his PhD on the structure of proteins, thatMoonen steered his research toward medicalapplications.

At the time, one of the main methods tostudy protein structure involved nuclear mag-netic resonance. So when magnetic resonanceimaging, which was to completely transformradiology, was developed, Moonen becameenthralled. A few years later, at the age of only 31,he became director of the MRI research centerat the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Wash-ington. He has fond memories of his long stayin the US. “Very little paperwork, no need to

apply for funding, and cutting-edge lab equip-ment... It was heaven for a researcher,” he recalls.But Moonen and his French wife decided toreturn to Europe. “We didn’t want our kids to haveto move constantly during their adolescence. Aswe are nonetheless culturally more European, wedecided to move back here.”

Moonen arrived in Bordeaux in 1996 andjoined CNRS, which presented an advantage ofgreat value: it offered jobs that were “entirelydedicated to research.” He was therefore able todevote all his time to developing a mini-invasivetherapy that uses focused ultrasound guided byMRI. His interdisciplinary laboratory, whichbrings together physicists, computer scientists,and biologists, received the 2006 Antony-BernardOise Award for their painstaking work in fight-ing cancer, a work that has been backed for thelast ten years by the National Anti-Cancer League.

The device co-developed by Moonen’s laband produced by the company Philips is under-going clinical trials at the Saint-André hospital inBordeaux, in the department run by Trillaud.“The machine has been under a clinical researchprotocol since June 2008. We have treated aroundten patients for uterine fibroma,” Trillaud explains.This is just a first step before treating cancers ofthe breast, kidney, and possibly liver, the real-world applications so close to Moonen’s heart.

Dominique Salomon

1. Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1991 for his contribution tothe development of multidimensional nuclear magneticresonance spectroscopy. 2. Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2002 for his work on theuse of multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance forthe study of protein structure.


CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Chretien MoonenIMF, [email protected]

Chretien MoonenAll-out War on Cancer

ÉGIDE Égide is a non-profit organizationthat manages French governmentinternational mobility programs.Many funding opportunities are listed on the website, and mostcontent is in English.Ô www.egide.asso.fr

EURAXESS This portal provides information ongrants, fellowships, or positionsavailable throughout Europe as well as practical information

(accommodation, childcare andschools, healthcare...) for eachcountry. Ô http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/

EUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCILThis entails a number of calls forproposals by the European ResearchCouncil (ERC) for both starting andadvanced grants in PhysicalSciences and Engineering, LifeSciences, and Social Sciences andHumanities.

Ô Deadline: April 7, 2010. Ô http://erc.europa.eu (grant section)

ECOS PROGRAMSECOS are scientific cooperationprograms between France andSouth American countries, divided inECOS-Nord (Colombia, Mexico,Venezuela) and ECOS-Sud(Argentina, Chile, Uruguay). Calls forapplications are open in basicresearch in all scientific fields forselected countries.Ô Deadline: Mexico: Feb. 26, 2010.

Chile: March 31, 2010. Argentina: April 15, 2010.

Ô www.univ-paris13.fr/cofecub-ecos

5TH STIC-AMSUD CALLThe STIC-AmSud program calls for research-development projectsin all topics related to ICT. Projects must include at least twoparticipating South Americancountries, and one team of Frenchscientists. Ô Deadline: May 15, 2010. Ô www.sticamsud.org

> GRANTS/FELLOWSHIPS

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specialist in the foundations of mathematics,has been awarded the 2007-2011 Senior Chair ofExcellence.1 At the end of 2007, he joined aNancy-based laboratory specialized in the history of sciences and philosophy.2 This year, hesigned on with the History and philosophy ofscience department of Paris-VII University3 fora duration of two years. He will then return to

Nancy for a final year beforeheading back to Notre Dame. Willthis take him closer to the truth?That’s another question entirely.

Séverine Duparcq

1. With the support of CNRS, Paris-VIIand Nancy-II Universities, the Collège de France, and Notre Dame University.2. Laboratoire d’histoire des sciences etde philosophie-Archives Henri-Poincaré(CNRS / INPL Nancy / UniversitésNancy-I and -II).3. Département d’histoire et philosophiedes sciences (Université Paris-VII). Thisincludes three structures, two of whichare joint research units linked to CNRS.

The American Michael Detlefsen is ahumanist in search of truth. Yet at thesame time, he questions the veryexistence of truth: can several truths, and

thus several proofs, co-exist at one and the sametime? Surprisingly, or not, Detlefsen tackles these complex questions through math-ematics. The philosopher and mathematicianfrom Notre Dame University (Indiana, US) hasset up camp in France until 2011 in CNRS-affiliated laboratories, where he heads a program called “Ideals of proof.”

The program explores what are known as“imaginary” numbers, which can result insurprising outcomes. With imaginary numbers,the square of a number (the multiplication of anumber by itself) can become negative. “Thevery existence of these numbers is a totallyirrational concept for many people untrained inmathematics.” And yet, this concept is amathematical truth for those who deal with thesenumbers on a daily basis.

This questioning of truth has its origins inDetlefsen’s own roots, and in the incredible epicof his great-grandfather and great great unclewho decided, at ages 9 and 11, to leave Denmarkand their family on their own to embrace theAmerican Dream. “A long and trying adventurethen ensued which led them, by boat, train, andthen finally on foot, to the town of Dannebrog inNebraska,” explains Detlefsen. “There, thegovernment gave them land on the conditionthat they cultivate it for at least five years. Thedream became reality.” Detlefsen, who knowsthe story by heart, can himself raise a number of

questions: Why did these childrenreally decide to leave their family?Is the truth, as told to him by hisolder brother, the real truth? Doesa single truth ever exist, or is truthaffected by our own history? Andwhat about our own history inrelation to History?

When he started his under-graduate studies, Detlefsen turnedtowards the sciences, mathema-tics, physics, as well as towardsphilosophy. Eventually he obtaineda PhD in logic. After a dissertationon Gödel’s second incompletenesstheorem—which shows that certainsentences expressing the consis-tency of systems are impossible todemonstrate in those systems—the scientist’s first position was asprofessor of philosophy inMinnesota followed by a second atthe University of Notre Dame inIndiana. “Do mathematical con-cepts really exist in nature, or arethey only a creation of the mind,which tends to rationalize the orderof the world in this manner and project its truth?”That was the starting point of a thought processthat Detlefsen has followed throughout his careerin the US and across the world.

Croatia, Germany, Switzerland, Australia,Japan, Spain, and many other countries havehosted Detlefsen over the last 25 years. It is nowFrance’s turn, where Detlefsen, as a world


AROUNDTHEWORLD 33

The Kastler Foundation (FNAK):Helps foreign researchers settle inFrance and maintains contact aftertheir departure. Ô www.fnak.fr

Foreign embassies and consulatesin France: Ô www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/

annuaire/

French embassies and consulatesabroad: Ô www.expatries.diplomatie.

gouv.fr/annuaires/annuaires.htm

Association Bernard Gregory: This association helps young PhDsfrom any discipline make thetransition into business. Ô www.abg.asso.fr

France Contact will help you planand arrange your stay in France: Ô www.francecontact.net

Edufrance: Information on France'shigher education programs–courseenlistment, grant and fellowshipapplications.Ô www.edufrance.fr

WORKING IN A FRENCH LAB,PRACTICAL INFORMATION: TS'AI YÜAN-P'EI PROGRAM

WITH CHINAThis program is open to students,post-doctoral fellows, andconfirmed scientists in all scientificfields to develop scientificexchanges between France andChina. The initial one year fundingcan be renewed for a second year.Ô Deadline: March 20, 2010.Ô Contact Information:

[email protected] [email protected]

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Michael Detlefsen,Université Paris-VII, [email protected]

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Which treatment, out of all those developed incollaboration with CNRS, is the most faradvanced?Robert Zimmer: Definitely Lupuzor, a drug can-didate for treating systemic lupus erythematosus,a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease inwhich the patient’s immune system producesauto-antibodies that can result in serious symp-toms (rheumatological, neurological, dermato-logical and renal). By floating the company on theBritish stock market in 2006, we raised€15 million, enough to perform the fulldevelopment up to phase II clinical trials.The results are very promising. In fact,Lupuzor is one of the first anti-lupustreatments tested at this stage whichhas performed significantly betterthan the placebo. The company thathas been entrusted with the devel-opment of Lupuzor will start phaseIII clinical trials in the near future.If all goes well, the drug could beon the market by 2013. This is areal hope for people afflicted withthis disease—1.4 million in G8 coun-tries, 90% of which are womenbetween the ages of 18 and 50. Currentdrugs on the market are neither curative,nor specific to this disease and may causeserious adverse effects.

But what is the specificity of this ‘anti-lupus’drug? R.Z.: Lupuzor is a peptide, in other words apart of a protein, and is made up of aparticular sequence of amino acids. Unlikecertain immunosuppressive drugs thataffect the entire immune system, thispeptide only targets the precise categoryof immune cells involved in the disease. Itwas discovered in 2001 at CNRS’ ICTlaboratory1 in Strasbourg, a laboratory wecooperate with via a framework partnershipagreement signed with CNRS in February2002. Our strong ties to the ICT lab led usto exploit the existing CNRS patent and,together with CNRS, to extend its protection.Since 2002, four ICT researchers havebecome shareholders in our company, andImmupharma France has also recentlyfunded a technician position at the ICTlaboratory.

Do you collaborate with CNRS on other projects?R.Z.: We are currently working on an anticancerdrug also discovered by the ICT lab, togetherwith two other CNRS laboratories.2 The thera-peutic molecule, called HB19, is also a peptide.It binds nucleolin, a protein abundant at the sur-face of tumor cells and related blood vessels,and inhibits both blood vessels and tumor growthin mice. HB19 could also be used to treatpsoriasis, diabetic retinopathy, and to heal

wounds. We intend to test this candidate drugnext year in a clinical trial. Immupharma Francehas just funded two positions at CRRT2 for aPhD student and a technician to work on thisproject. The initial patent was filed by CNRS,and a second one, co-owned with Immupharma,has been filed to protect the method of produc-tion of this peptide and to cover the more potentnext generation peptide which will be tested inhumans early this year.

What other diseases are you targeting?R.Z.: With the ICT, we are also developing anantibiotic to fight nosocomial infections due tobacteria resistant to common antibiotics. Theway it works is quite innovative, as it destroys thebacterial membrane. It is presently at the stageof preclinical development and is also protectedby a CNRS patent and joint-patents.Immupharma is also working on a painkillerfor severe post-operative and cancer pain. Thiscompound, Cin-met-enkephalin, derived from anatural analgesic, would have fewer side effects,and would last longer than morphine derivatives.Our company also holds a chemical library ofalmost 300,000 molecules jointly-patented withCNRS. Some of these seem to be active againstinflammation, allergies, and malaria.

Interview by Jean-Philippe Braly

1. Immunologie et chimie thérapeutiques.(CNRS)2. CRRT: Croissance, réparation etrégénération tissulaires (CNRS /Université Paris-XII), and Régulation dela transcription et maladies génétiques(CNRS).

IMMUPHARMA

Therapeutic Peptides

INNOVATION Interview

Immupharma France, in Mulhouse, is developing several drugs based on peptides–proteinfragments–discovered by researchers at CNRS. Company president and managing directorRobert Zimmer tells us about the company’s most promising treatments.


“For the first time in phase II clinical trials, an anti-lupus drug has performed significantlybetter than the placebo.”

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CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Robert Zimmer,Immupharma France, [email protected]

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INNOVATION 35

ALYXAN

Tracking Down Gases

Air often contains traces ofpollutant gases and othersubstances in addition to its

common constituents, namely nitro-gen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide.The ultra-rapid and transportableB-Trap analyzer, which is protectedby a double patent,1 can detect suchsubstances in a flash. “We live in aworld with increasing safety con-cerns. We therefore need to be ableto detect toxic substances on thespot and in real time, to alert thesurrounding population, for exam-ple,” explains Michel Heninger, aresearcher in the team behind B-Trap, at Orsay’s LCP.2

Until now, this type of preciseanalysis was costly and time-con-suming. A sample had to be takenand transferred to a laboratory tobe analyzed by a mass spectrometer

that required a skilled operator. Massspectrometry involves the separa-tion of substances according to themass of their constituent molecules,as this mass is unique to each typeof molecule. So far, the only instru-ments capable of high mass accu-racy measurements were designedfor the large molecules found in thepetroleum and pharmaceuticalindustries, and therefore not adaptedto the small molecules that makeup the air. Furthermore, their size—that of a small apartment—meanttransporting them was impossible.

The LCP team has succeededin miniaturizing and adapting thismass spectrometry technique. TheB-Trap analyzer, which is very sim-ple to use, is the size of a smallrefrigerator and only costs around€150,000. It can detect a given mol-

ecule out of a million or even abillion in real time. “And we canobtain up to one measurement everysecond,” adds Heninger. The resultsare so encouraging that the projectwon a French national competitionto promote innovative technologies3

twice—in 2003 and 2004—leadingto the creation of the start-up AlyXanin 2005.

AlyXan has already won severalcontracts with France’s Ministry ofDefense for the continuousmeasurement of atmospheres insubmarines, where the confinedenvironment makes any toxic leaklife-threatening. “A collaboration isalso underway with the Frenchpetroleum institute (IFP) to studygas emissions produced by cars,”adds Heninger. “And we are alsocollaborating with the Occupational

PHARMASEA

Chemical warfare wagedbetween marine organismscould save human lives. This

is what the Pharmasea project hopesto achieve by fighting Alzheimer’sdisease using marine molecules.

Pharmasea partners—twoSMEs and four academic researchcenters, including CNRS1—are def-initely not starting from scratch.The project is led by the ManRosTherapeutics company,2 co-foundedin 2007 by biologist Laurent Meijer,who works on protein phosphory-lation at the Roscoff biology station,3

and chemist Hervé Galons, cur-rently at Paris-V University.

Laurent Meijer’s CNRS teamhas been studying the anti-tumorand anti-neurodegenerative prop-erties of certain molecules secretedby marine invertebrates—spongesand ascidians—which may be syn-thesized to deter their predators. Inhumans, these molecules are capa-ble of acting on protein kinases,essential regulators in manyprocesses of cellular life and death.This research has led to the discov-

ery of Roscovitine, a mol-ecule now patented byCNRS and undergoingphase II clinical trialsagainst lung andnasopharyngal cancers, aswell as against glau-coma—an ocular illnessthat can cause blindness.

ManRos Therapeuticsintends to overcome, with“speed and flexibility,” asMeijer puts it, all admin-istrative and financialobstacles that plaguepharmaceutical research.For the moment, ManRosTherapeutics is testingfour families of marinemolecules at the preclinicalstage against Alzheimer’sdisease but also againstcancers, leukemias, and polycystickidney disease. Human trials willfollow as soon as possible.

The company has eightemployees, all biologists andchemists. ManRos, the name ofwhich is a contraction of Manhattan

and Roscoff, hopes todevelop on both sides ofthe Atlantic, and hasalready found numerousinvestors in the US. Itsmany awards and constant

media attention (it was recentlyincluded in a French financial mag-azine’s top 100 “most promising”start-ups in France4) should makeit easier to find funding, especially forambitious projects like Pharmasea.

Mathieu Hautemulle

1. ManRos Therapeutics, C.RIS Pharma,CNRS, CEA, and Rennes-I and Paris-VUniversities.2. www.manros-therapeutics.com3. Laboratoire Phosphorylation de protéineset pathologies humaines (CNRS researchand service unit).4. Capital, August 2009.

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Michel HeningerAlyXan, [email protected]

Medicine Department of the Paris-Sud University to monitor workplaceair quality, a technology that couldbe extended to private homes.”Given the present concernsregarding questions of public health,AlyXan should have a verypromising future.

Charline Zeitoun

1. CNRS / Universités Paris-XI and -VI.2. Laboratoire de chimie physique (CNRS /Université Paris-XI).3. Concours national d’aide à la créationd’entreprises de technologies innovantes.


CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Laurent MeijerSBR, [email protected]

The Axinellasponge, off thecoast of Brittany, isa potential sourceof bioactivemolecules.

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A Cure from the Depths

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Tell us about the European SouthernObservatory.Laurent Vigroux: It is an intergovernmental organ-ization which was set up in 1962 to developmodern astronomy in Europe. At the time, themain objective of the five founding countries(Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium,and Sweden) was to build a 4-meter telescope atLa Silla in Chile that would be dedicated to study-ing three objects that are hard to observe fromthe Northern Hemisphere: the MagellanicClouds, which are the two galaxies closest to our

own, and our galaxy, theMilky Way—especially itscenter. Because this firstinstrument and those thatwere added during the1970s produced excellentresults, other countriesdecided to join ESO,making even more ambi-tious projects possible.The best-known examplewas the construction in

the 1990s of the four 8-meter telescopes of theVery Large Telescope (VLT) on Mount Paranal inChile. Today, this observatory is considered thebest in the world. ESO now has 14 MemberStates and owns some 20 instruments at the LaSilla and Paranal sites, which enable observationsof the sky at almost all wavelengths.

What role does ESO play in world astronomy? L.V.: ESO occupies a unique place in the disciplineas it is currently the largest organization respon-sible for ground-based instruments: all majorEuropean countries are now members. No region

of the world has an equivalent structure—namelyan organization capable of playing a federativerole at the scale of an entire continent, with anannual budget and qualified in-housepersonnel—not even the US, where telescopesgenerally belong to universities or privateconsortia. Furthermore, unlike the EuropeanSpace Agency which devotes a large share of itsactivities to space launches and Earth observa-tions, ESO only concerns itself with astronomy.This gives it a much more significant mandatein the eyes of the scientific community.The latest call for proposals for observationsreceived more than 1200 requests for the use ofthe ESO telescopes—unfortunately seven timesmore than available. Every year, 400 scientificarticles are published on studies performedusing the VLT, i.e., more than one a day. To thisfigure should be added the 25 to 30 yearlypublications that focus on discoveries madeusing the VLTI (Very Large TelescopeInterferometer: the interferometric mode ofVLT2) and the telescopes at La Silla. ESO is today a real science-generating machineto which we owe results as spectacular as theassessment, last year, of the mass of the black holethat lies at the center of our galaxy, or in 2005,the production of the first image of an exoplanet.

To what degree is CNRS involved?L.V.: Although indirect, CNRS’ involvement inESO is considerable since most Frenchastronomers work in CNRS laboratories. Theyalso make important contributions to the designof instruments. Out of the 15 instruments of theVLT and VLTI, 7 were designed with the assis-tance of French teams, 6 of these being from

CNRS. Besides, most of the 100 or so French arti-cles based on ESO observations involve CNRS.

What is the relationship between ESO and thevarious space agencies? Is there competitionbetween space- and land-based astronomy?L.V.: Not at all, these two branches of astronomyare complementary. To obtain images of exo-planets, for example, a ground-based 40-metertelescope is essential. But determining whereto point it still requires a space-based telescopeof the CoRot type.3

Similarly, observing the sky at certain wave-lengths—X-ray, gamma-ray, or far-infrared—isnot possible from Earth. For this reason, someinitiatives have to be taken outside ESO, especiallysince all terrestrial observation resources are notrepresented in our organization. ESO does notcarry out radioastronomy and does not partici-pate in high-energy astrophysics instrumentslike HESS or Auger.

How is ESO organized? L.V.: The observatory is managed by a Councilwhere each Member State has two representa-tives. This Council, of which I have been thepresident since January 2009, is responsible forappointing the director general, approving thebudget, and determining our principal policyorientations. ESO’s annual budget is just over€130 million, which mainly comes from the con-


THE EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY

Laurent Vigroux, the current director of the Astrophysics Institute ofParis,1 has also been president of the Council of the EuropeanSouthern Observatory (ESO) since January 2009. He explains therole of this organization and its future projects.

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The ALMA project aimsto build a giantinterferometer by 2013at an altitude of 5104meters in northernChile.

The Very LargeTelescope (VLT) istoday consideredthe bestobservatory in theworld.

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CNRSNEWSWIRE 37

tributions of each Member State proportionallyto its GDP. Roughly 40% makes up the opera-tional budget, which also includes industrialcontracts for the building and instrumentationof the telescopes. The remainder is spent on the650 or so staff, spread between the ESO headoffice near Munich (Germany) and theobservatories in Chile. It should be noted that inmost cases, ESO does not build the instrumentsthat equip its telescopes. It issues calls forproposals that are answered by laboratories in theMember States in exchange for observation time.France is one of the leading countries in thisarea, and has become renowned for its novelideas in adaptive optics, the technique that usesa deformable mirror to enable the real-timecorrection of disturbances caused by theatmosphere. The country boasts severalspecialized teams, based in science observatoriesin Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Grenoble,Nice, and Lyon, and at the French Atomic EnergyCommission (CEA).

How will ESO instruments evolve over the nextfew years?L.V.: The VLT is currently equipped with 12 instru-ments. These will gradually be replaced by new,second-generation systems, two of which arecurrently being developed in France. Dedicatedto research on exoplanets and to the visible andinfrared spectroscopy of distant galaxies, these

systems, called SPHERE, MUSE, and KMOS,should be operational by 2012 or 2013. The VLTIalso has a second-generation instrumentationplan, in which CNRS will play a major role.In parallel, ESO represents Europe in a vastinternational program called ALMA, in which theUS, Canada, Japan, and Taiwan also participate.

Endowed with a budget of €800 million—halfof which comes from ESO as the European con-tribution—this project aims to build a giant radiointerferometer at an altitude of more than 5000meters at the Llano de Chajnantor, NorthernChile. When it becomes operational in 2013,this network of antennae will be dedicated tostudying the composition of interstellar clouds,the clouds of gas and dust from which the firstgalaxies probably emerged. As for the post-VLT period, we are currentlystudying the concept of a 42-meter telescope,the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT),whose main objective will be to obtain images ofexoplanets. The ESO Council should decide onits construction by the end of 2010 or mid-2011.It could become fully operational by 2017-18. But this all depends on the political decisionstaken by the different Member States. Supportingthis project, which will cost approximately €1 billion, means accepting a substantial increasein their financial contributions.

Interview by Vahé Ter Minassian

1. Institut d’astrophysique de Paris (CNRS / UniversitéParis-VI).2. Interferometry produces images of a cosmic object byoperating several telescopes in concert.3. COnvection, ROtation and planetary Transit.

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Laurent VigrouxIAP, [email protected]

OCam, an ultrafast and ultra-sensitive camera for adaptive optics, able to capture 1500 images persecond in almost complete darkness, has just been completed. It took five years for a consortium ofthree French laboratories1 from CNRS-INSU to develop this camera, jointly funded by the EuropeanCommission, ESO, and INSU, in the context of the European Opticon project. It was especially designed to be used on one of the VLT's second-generation instruments, calledSPHERE, but will also be used on all VLT adaptive optics systems to come. This ultrafast camera willallow astronomers to measure and then correct for in real-time—and with hitherto unequaledaccuracy—the atmospheric turbulence that interferes with the astronomical images captured by largeground-based telescopes.

1. Laboratoire d’astrophysique de Grenoble (CNRS /Université Grenoble-I, Observatoire des sciences del’Univers de Grenoble (CNRS / Université Grenoble-I /Institut polytechnique Grenoble)), Laboratoired’astrophysique de Marseille (CNRS / Université Aix-Marseille-I / Observatoire astronomique de Marseille-Provence) and Observatoire de Haute-Provence (CNRS).

Contact information:Philippe Feautrier, [email protected] Gach, [email protected]

A CAMERA TO FILM THE UNIVERSE

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SESAR

Modernizing Air Traffic in Europe

With nearly 30,000 flights aday during peak travelperiods and more than 10

million flights a year (set to increaseto 17 million by 2020 and 20.4million by 2030), European airtraffic risks paralysis if its manage-ment and control are not rapidlymodernized.

For this reason, in 2007 theEuropean Commission launchedthe SESAR (Single European SkyAir traffic management andResearch) program, the techno-logical side of the “Single EuropeanSky” initiative, which aims torestructure air traffic managementin Europe, currently split into 27

different national systems.1 “Airtraffic control has evolved very littlesince communication by radio andradar became the norm,” explainsPhilippe Baptiste, one of the 12members of the SESAR scientificcommittee and director of the LIX.2

“To a large extent, it is still fairly low-tech, with very little automation, andcontinues to rely on the individualcapacity of controllers to manageever increasing traffic levels.”

A member of the SESARscientific committee and seniorresearcher at PREG,3 AlainJeunemaître points out that “the eco-nomic losses linked to the system’slack of efficiency are estimated to be

between €3-5 billion a year, one billion of which is due to systemfragmentation. Air traffic controlcosts two times more in Europe thanin the US, mainly due to thissegmentation problem.”

DEFINING OPTIMAL FLIGHT PATHS“At present, the flight paths set by airtraffic controllers are far fromoptimal. They are overly dependenton the geographic segmentation ofnational management systems andmilitary training spaces,” explainsPatrick Ky, SESAR’s executive direc-tor. “For instance, it is estimatedthat current flight paths deviate from

optimal paths by 3 to 5%,which results in excessive fuelconsumption, pollution, losttime, and wasted money.”

SESAR is therefore nowworking on optimizing flightpaths. For any given flight,an optimal path will be jointlydefined by controllers, airlinecompanies, and other users ofairspace (airports, businessjets, private and militaryaviation, etc.). To do so, anumber of technologies arebeing developed such as anintranet that links every playerinvolved in air traffic controlor direct data transfer betweenthe ground and airplanes bydigital link, to complementthe current radio link. Othersolutions involve the firstsatellite navigation tests usingthe European Galileo systemplanned in 2010-2011,controller and pilot assistancevia new automatic functions,

and new turbulence detectionsystems. Once fully developed, thesetechnologies will first be deployed onthe ground, then in airplanes by2014.

LONG TERM RESEARCHIn parallel with the technologicaldevelopments currently underway,SESAR’s scientific committee is set-ting up academic research networkson various topics like modeling andoptimization of air traffic, the con-troller/computer interface, andimproving the system’s economicperformance.

In France, several CNRS labo-ratories are conducting research inthese fields. PREG, for example, hasbeen examining ways of restruc-turing European air traffic control toreduce its cost, while the LIX hasbeen working on traffic modelingaspects. The modernization of Euro-pean air traffic control is essential,since failures come at a high price,like the 2002 mid-air collision aboveLake Constance in Switzerlandwhich resulted in 71 fatalities.

Jean-Philippe Braly

1. Its present budget stands at €2.1 billion,divided between the EuropeanCommission, Eurocontrol (EuropeanOrganization for the Safety of AirNavigation) and 15 industrial partners. 2. Laboratoire d’informatique de l’écolepolytechnique (CNRS / ÉcolePolytechnique).3. Pôle de recherche en économie et gestionde l’école polytechnique (CNRS / ÉcolePolytechnique).


CNRSNEWSWIRE38

A threefold increase in air traffic capacity in European skies, management costs halved, safety improvedtenfold, and the environmental impact of each flight cut by 10%: just some of the objectives of theEuropean SESAR program, to which CNRS is actively participating.

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Patrick KySESAR Joint Undertaking, [email protected]Ô www.sesarju.eu

Ô Philippe BaptisteLIX, [email protected]

Ô Alain JeunemaîtrePREG, [email protected]

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With its 69 antennae mounted on itsthree arms, the SMOS satellite willanalyze the oceans’ salinity and thesoil’s moisture.


SMOS

Tracking the World’s Water

After more than 20 years ofresearch and development,the SMOS (Soil Moisture and

Ocean Salinity) satellite was finallylaunched from Plesetsk, in northernRussia, on November 2nd, 2009. Itwill spend at least the next three yearsin orbit, monitoring the Earth’s water.

The SMOS project, which orig-inated at the Center for the Study ofthe Biosphere from Space (CES-BIO)1 in Toulouse, aims to providethe first global maps of soil moistureand ocean salinity, two key indicatorsof the state of the Earth’s climate.

“Getting the satellite into orbithas been the work of aninternational team,” says Yann Kerr,CESBIO’s director and SMOS PI.

The SMOS satellite acts as agiant radio-thermometer pickingup the Earth’s microwave radiation,which is reduced by soil moistureand salinity. The 69 antennaemounted on the satellite’s three“arms” pick up radiation from largepseudo-hexagons approximately

1000 kilometers wide. “It letsresearchers compile maps of ourplanet’s surface water every threedays with a resolution of 40 kilometers or better,” adds Kerr.

Since water levels, whether assoil moisture or in the oceans, areseen as “a tracer or an indicator ofclimate change,” the SMOSmission—a joint French, Spanish,and European Space Agencyproject—will not only let researcherstrack long-term climate change, butalso predict it with greater accuracyin the short term.

This also means scientists canfollow ocean currents as they movearound the globe, and thus “betterunderstand and model thermoha-line circulation,” in other words, theway temperature and salinityinteract.

Since its launch last November,SMOS has already started sendingback data, which is promising formeteorologists, hydrologists, andagronomists. “All the first stages

39CNRSNEWSWIRE

UruguayThe Franco-Uruguayan Institute of Mathematics (IFUM),which was created on December 10th, 2009, associates anumber of French laboratories in Paris, Montpellier, andToulouse, with the University of the Republic and theProgram for the Development of Basic Sciences (PEDECIBA)in Montevideo (Uruguay). Following a long-standingcooperation in mathematics between the two countries, thisInternational Associated Laboratory (LIA) will coordinateresearch in three mathematical fields: algebra andgeometric algebra; dynamic systems; and statistics andprobability.http://www.math.univ-montp2.fr/~cibils/IFUM/

ArgentinaThe International Franco-Argentinian NanociencesLaboratory (LIFAN), associating two laboratories inFrance,1and two in Argentina,2 was created last December.Mainly geared towards research on hybrid systems inspintronics, metal-oxide interfaces, and nanophonics, thisInternational Associated Laboratory is expected to boost theexisting collaboration, over ten years long, between thefounding laboratories. 1. Institut des nanosciences de Paris (CNRS / UPMC); Laboratoire descollisions atomiques et moléculaires (CNRS / Université Paris-XI).2. From the “Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica,” and from the“Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva,” in Buenos Airesand Bariloche.

Greece / RomaniaDubbed SmartMEMS, a new European AssociatedLaboratory (LEA) was created between CNRS, the GreekFoundation for Research and Technology (FORTH) inHeraklion (Greece), and the National Institute for Researchand Development in Microtechnologies in Bucharest(Romania). Its objective: to advance the knowledge onmaterials and their electromagnetic properties, and toexploit such properties in the development of novelcomponents for communications and instrumentation. The first LEA created with Greece, SmartMEMS associatesfor four years some 40 researchers from CNRS’ Laboratoryfor Analysis and Architecture of Systems (LAAS), theMicroelectrics Research Group in Greece, and theLaboratory of Micromachined Structures, MicrowaveCircuits and Devices (RF MEMS) in Romania.

ASSOCIATED LABORATORIES

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Yann KerrCESBIO, [email protected]

have gone marvellously well andwe have received the first imagesearlier than anticipated,” Kerr says.“We’re extremely satisfied.”

Tom Ridgway

1. Centre d’études spatiales de la biosphère(CNRS / Université Paul Sabatier / CNES /IRD).

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PHYSICS

Most Powerful NMR Spectrometer Now Operational

Can you tell us more about thisnewly inaugurated instrument?Gilberte Chambaud: It is a nuclearmagnetic resonance (NMR) spec-trometer (see box) of unrivalledpower. It was funded—to an amountof €11 million—by French nationaland regional institutions.2 This largeapparatus, which weighs 12 tonsand stands 5.2 meters high, willcertainly allow significant advancesin the structural analyses ofmolecules of interest for medicine,biology, or materials science. Itsmagnet can generate a magneticfield of 23.5 Teslas,3 i.e., about500,000 times the magnetic field ofEarth. This will make it possible toreach a “resonance frequency” of 1 Gigahertz (1000 MHz) forhydrogen atoms. Until now, themost powerful spectrometers in theworld were limited to a frequency of 950 MHz. During the past 30 years,successive improvements in NMRtechniques have led to new discov-eries, and it is expected that thisnew step in technology will furtheradvance the field.

What will be the specific use ofthis instrument ?G.C.: The teams with access to thismachine are working on a largenumber of fundamental issues. Forexample, NMR spectroscopy canhelp detect structural alterations ofmolecules associated to cancer.Determining proteins’ architecturesand their dynamics could lead tothe development of novel thera-peutic compounds. The instrumentcan also be used to analyze thestructure of materials like wood,glass, or concrete, or to improve thedesign of polymers. At least 70%of the projects are in chemistry andthe life sciences.

This machine belongs to the ultra-high field NMR network.4 What isthis network? G.C.: It is a large and unique researchinfrastructure spread on six sitesthroughout France, each combin-ing a specific scientific expertise anda specific NMR spectrometer. Thestrength of this network stems fromthe excellence of its expert teams(45 researchers and engineers),internationally recognized in thefield of solid inorganic or bioorganicNMR as well as in liquid NMR.Through this network, French, butalso European scientists can haveaccess to these ultra-high field

spectrometers in an environmentof competent technical and scientificsupport. In addition to their ownresearch activity, the network’sscientists also host and help otherresearchers carrying out studiesrequiring the use of the NMRspectrometers. The new 1 GHzNMR spectrometer is the center-piece of the network.

Is there a project for an even morepowerful apparatus ?G.C.: We are expecting a 1200 MHzmachine by 2015-2020, though thetechnology needed to produce suchan apparatus is still in progress and

The most powerful nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer in the world was recently inaugurated atLyon’s European Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center (CRMN).1 Gilberte Chambaud, director of CNRS’Institute of Chemistry, tells us about this exceptional instrument and how collective efforts and ambitiouspolicies have made the project possible.

NMR SPECTROSCOPYDiscovered some 60 years ago, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) can precisely analyze thecomposition and structure of a sample of matter at the atomic scale. The technique consists indetecting variations in the internal magnetization (spin) of specific atomic nuclei—such as that ofhydrogen—placed in a strong magnetic field. In practice, the nucleus absorbs an electromagneticradiation at a given frequency—the resonance frequency—which modifies its internalmagnetization. When the radiation is withdrawn, the nucleus returns to its fundamental state. This“relaxation” causes the emission of a characteristic electromagnetic wave that can be measuredand analyzed. The higher the magnetic field, the larger the resonance frequency and the moredetailed the spectrum obtained. Because variations in internal magnetization depend on theimmediate environment of the nucleus, the technique allows for a detailed structural analysis ofthe matter studied.

FD

requires a strong collaborationbetween the researchers and themanufacturers.

Interview by Kheira Bettayeb

1. Centre Européen de résonancemagnétique nucléaire (CNRS / Ecolenormale supérieure de Lyon / UniversitéClaude Bernard Lyon-I).2. CNRS, the Rhône-Alpes Region, theurban community of Lyon, and ClaudeBernard University.3. The Tesla is a unit that characterizes theforce of a magnetic field.4. TGIR-RMN: www.tgir-rmn.org

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Gilberte ChambaudCNRS, [email protected]

The new 1 GHzNMR spectrometerin Lyon cangenerate amagnetic field of 23.5 Teslas.

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PALEOCLIMATOLOGY

Thawing Climate History

During the interglacial EemianPeriod, which occured approx-imately between 130,000 and

115,000 years ago, polar tempera-tures were significantly warmer thanat present, with sea levels 4-6 metershigher. This period offers a perfectbenchmark for current global warm-ing models, which predict a tem-perature rise of 2.4°C per century.

Yet little is known about Eemianevolution—including the sequenceof changes in polar ice caps andocean currents. Crucial evidence ofthis period and its transition intothe last Ice Age is buried deep belowthe Greenland ice cap as thin layersof ice, each representing annualsnowfall, compacted over tens ofthousands of years. Each of theselayers contains a trove of informa-tion about previous atmospheric

and environmental conditions inpolar regions.

To retrieve this evidence, theNEEM project (North GreenlandEEMian Ice Drilling), led by theUniversity of Copenhagen(Denmark), but made up of a teamof scientists from 14 countries1

including CNRS researchers,2 isestablished at a remote base innorthwestern Greenland. The site ofthis ambitious project, drilling toice older than that of any previousstudy, was chosen by radar prospec-tion for optimal conditions: it had tobe above an ice divide, where theoldest ice is located, and on a flatbedrock to ensure the undisturbedpreservation of the layers.

NEEM began deep drilling inJune 2009, using its own non-polluting drill fluid developed with

CNRS scientists. By the summer’send, NEEM had reached a depth of1757.84 meters—establishing a newworld record for single-season deep-ice core drilling. It now hopes toreach the annual Eemian ice layersby the end of summer 2010. Each ofthese layers is on average 7 mmthick and found close to the bedrock,2542 meters below the surface.

The samples brought to thesurface are analyzed by stable waterisotope ratios, revealing the tem-peratures prevalent at the time inGreenland, and the regional sourcesof the precipitations.

Gases trapped between snowcrystals and the particulates theycontain tell us about atmosphericconditions, notably greenhouse gaslevels. But more information canbe obtained from chemical and

biological material, like bacteria, orby measuring both ice crystal struc-tures and bore-hole temperatures.

The ice reached last summerdates from 38,500 years ago. Firstanalyses show the site at that timereceived the heaviest precipitationsin the summer, and reveal the natureof climatic variations prevalent overthe Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay.

Graham Tearse

1. The United States, Belgium, Canada,China, Denmark, France, Germany,Iceland, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands,Sweden, Switzerland, and the UnitedKingdom.2. From INSU-CNRS, CEA, Versailles St. Quentin University, Joseph FourierUniversity (Grenoble), with the support ofthe French national research agency (ANR),and the French polar institute (IPEV).

41CNRSNEWSWIRE

CONTACT INFORMATIONÔ Valérie Masson-DelmotteLSCE, [email protected]

CoRoT MissionExtended The CoRoT satellite’s mission has beenextended for another three years. Thesatellite was launched in 2006 with twoobjectives: to scan the universe forexoplanets and to learn more about starstructure (by measuring star oscillation).CoRoT was originally a three-year mission,

but its mandate was renewed due to theoverall high quality of data obtained—including some recent breakthroughs on bothstars and exoplanets. The results of themission were published in a special issue ofAstronomy & Astrophysics in October 2009.1The mission’s extension was granted byFrance’s National center for space studies(CNES), together with its national andinternational partners (CNRS-INSU, the ParisObservatory, the European Space Agency

(ESA), Austria, Belgium,Germany, Spain, and Brazil).During the next three years,researchers hope toacquire more information onnew types of stars. They willalso focus on finding “superhot earths,” planets slightlymore massive than theEarth that rotate muchcloser to their parent star.1. “The CoRoT space mission: earlyresults,” Astronomy & Astrophysics,2009. Vol. 506 / 1 - October IV.

ASTRONOMY

Planck Keeps its PromiseThe Planck satellite, launched in May 2009,gave its first reading of the sky, a narrow bandacross the entire celestial sphere, providingexcellent quality data. This European missionis designed to measure cosmic microwavebackground radiation, the oldest radiationemitted in the Universe, showing us how itwas 380,000 years after the Big Bang. Thesatellite will provide a complete map of thesky with unprecedented accuracy for theheterogeneity of the temperature andpolarization of cosmic microwavebackground radiation, using the French HighFrequency Instrument. CNRS laboratoriesfrom INSU and IN2P3 have played a crucialrole in its conception, development, andimplementation. Complete readings fromPlanck are expected by 2012.

Artist’s rendering of the CoRoT satellite.

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CNRSNEWSWIRE42

Facts…Founded in 1939 bygovernmental decree, CNRShas the following missions: Ô To evalulate and carry out all

research capable ofadvancing knowledge andbringing social, cultural, andeconomic benefits to society

Ô To contribute to theapplication and promotion ofresearch results

Ô To develop scientificcommunication

Ô To support research training Ô To participate in the analysis

of the national andinternational scientificclimate and its potential forevolution in order to developa national policy

CNRS research units arespread throughout France, andemploy a large body ofpermanent researchers,engineers, technicians, andadministrative staff.Laboratories are all on four-year, renewablecontracts, with bi-annual

evaluations. There are twotypes of labs:Ô CNRS labs: fully funded and

managed by CNRS Ô Joint labs: partnered with

universities, other researchorganizations, or industry

As the largest fundamentalresearch organization inEurope, CNRS is involved in allscientific fields, organized intothe following areas ofresearch: Ô Life sciencesÔ PhysicsÔ Chemistry Ô Mathematics Ô Computer scienceÔ Earth sciences and

AstronomyÔ Humanities and Social

sciencesÔ Environmental sciences and

Sustainable developmentÔ Engineering

CNRS conducts some twentyinterdisciplinary programs inorder to promote exchange

between fields, ensureeconomic and technologicaldevelopment, and solvecomplex societal problems. Ôwww.cnrs.fr/prg/PIR/liste.htm

The CNRS annual budgetrepresents one-quarter of French public spending on

civilian research. This fundingcomes from various sources:Ô Government and public

fundingÔ CNRS funds, primarily from

industrial and EU researchcontracts and royalties onpatents, licenses, andservices provided

The Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (National Center for ScientificResearch) is a government-funded research organization under the administrative authorityof France’s Ministry of Research.

… And FiguresBudget for 2009€3.36 billion of which€607 million comes from revenuesgenerated by CNRScontracts

Personnel32,000 employees:11,600 researchers, 14,400 engineers andtechnical staff, and 6000non-permanentemployees

Organization> 10 thematic institutes> 19 regional offices,

ensuring decentralizeddirect management oflaboratories

> 1100 researchunits–90% are jointresearch laboratorieswith universities andindustry

Industrial Relations(2007)> 1680 contracts signed

by CNRS with industryin 2007

> 30 current agreementswith major internat-ional industrial groups

> 3103 patent families> 729 licenses and other

financially remune-rating active acts

> €58.2 million in royalties > 394 companies

created between 1999and 2008

CNRS carries out researchactivities throughout theworld, in collaboration withlocal partners, thus pursuingan active international policy.

The Office of EuropeanAffairs (DAE) and the Officeof International Relations(DRI) coordinate andimplement the policies ofCNRS in Europe and the restof the world, and maintain

direct relations with itsinstitutional partners abroad.The DAE and the DRIpromote cooperationbetween CNRS laboratoriesand foreign research teamsthrough a set of structuredcollaborative instrumentsdeveloped for this purpose.At the same time, theycoordinate CNRS actionswith those of other Frenchand international research

organizations as well as theactivities of the Ministries ofResearch and ForeignAffairs.To carry out their mission,the DAE and the DRI–withhead offices in Paris–rely ona network of eightrepresentative officesabroad, as well as on thescience and technologyoffices in French embassiesaround the world.

IN NUMBERS: Exchange agreements:85 (with 60 countries)

Foreign visitingscientists: 5000 (PhDstudents, post-docs, andvisiting researchers)

Permanent foreign staffmembers: > About 1700 researchers ofwhom more than 1200 comefrom Europe

> International Programs forScientific Cooperation (PICS): 368 > International AssociatedLaboratories (LEA + LIA): 123> International ResearchGroups (GDRE + GDRI): 90> International Joint Units(UMI): 22

Contact: Antonia Alcaraz,[email protected]

DAE AND DRI, TWO OFFICES DEVOTED TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

CNRS in Brief

Capturing Earth’s Dynamics This seemingly abstract painting of a dinosaur skull is actually a map of a part of Iran’s coastline nearKhamir, where the northward-moving Arabian tectonic plate and the Eurasian plate collide. The resultingfolds are the Zagros Mountain Range.

The map was developed by researchers from the Geosciences Montpellier lab1 using the Landsat 7etm+satellite. Remote sensing was used to obtain digital photographs taken from space in which differentcomponents of the Earth’s surface are captured at different wavelengths and then combined into a singlefalse-color picture.

This technique lets researchers create evolving records of the Earth’s surface. It is a particularly usefultool for surveying inaccessible areas, and furnishing dynamic data for patterns of erosion, sedimentation,the nature and age of rocks, and tectonic activity. Such information will help evaluate the globaldynamics of the Earth’s natural processes and the effects of human interventions.

Sarah MacKenzie

1. CNRS / Université Montpellier-II.

Contact information: Stephane Dominguez, Géosciences Montpellier. [email protected]

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nanotechnology updateprofile serge haroche 2009 cnrs gold medal nanotechnology update cnrs photo and...

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