La Chaîne du Vivant - Chroniques de Biologie d'Yves Muller

Cette 2ème chronique biologique démarre par l’exploration du Parc National de Yellowstone aux États-Unis, un parc réputé notamment pour son intense activité géothermique. Dans les années 1960, un biologiste va découvrir dans une des sources chaudes de Yellowstone une nouvelle bactérie capable de vivre dans des eaux pouvant atteindre 80°C. La découverte de cette bactérie, appelée Thermus aquaticus, va ouvrir le champ d’étude des organismes capables de vivre dans des milieux extrêmes. Mais cette découverte va aussi conduire à une révolution en biologie moléculaire grâce à l’utilisation de l’ADN polymérase de cette bactérie dans la technique d’amplification de l’ADN appelée la PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction).

Auteur : Yves Muller – Professeur Agrégé de classe exceptionnelle - Docteur en Neurosciences - Université de Montpellier

2. Biology Chronicles - From Yellowstone National Park to the Gene Copying Machine

Our biological chronicle starts with the exploration of Yellowstone National Park in the USA, a park renowned for its intense geothermal activity. In the 1960s, in one of the hot springs of Yellowstone a new bacterium was discovered by a biologist that is capable of living in waters up to 80 ° C. The discovery of this bacterium, called Thermus aquaticus, opened the field of study of organisms capable of living in extreme environments. But this discovery also led to a revolution in molecular biology through the use of the DNA polymerase of this bacterium in the DNA amplification technique called PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction).

Author : Yves Muller – Associate Professor at Montpellier University

Références :

Chien A, Edgar DB, Trela JM (1976). "Deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase from the extreme thermophile Thermus aquaticus". Journal of Bacteriology. 127 (3): 1550–7.

Mullis KB (April 1990). "The unusual origin of the polymerase chain reaction". Scientific American. 262 (4): 56–61, 64–5.

Ishino S, Ishino Y (2014). "DNA polymerases as useful reagents for biotechnology - the history of developmental research in the field". Frontiers in Microbiology. 5: 465.

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Cette 1ère chronique biologique vous conduira d’une bactérie trouvée dans le sol de l’île de Pâques à la découverte d’une molécule capable de prolonger la vie des animaux.

Auteur : Yves Muller – Professeur Agrégé de classe exceptionnelle - Docteur en Neurosciences - Université de Montpellier

1. Biological Chronicles - From Easter Island to search of eternal youth

It’s 1964, and a group of Canadian scientists had sailed across the Pacific to Easter Island in order to study the health of the isolated local population. Working below the gaze of the island’s famous statues, they collected a variety of soil samples and other biological material, unaware that one of these would yield an unexpected treasure. It contained a bacterium that secreted a new antibiotic, one that proved to be a potent anti-fungal chemical. The compound was named rapamycin after the traditional name of its island source – Rapa Nui. Rapamycin has made a stunning journey from the soil of a Pacific island to the besides of the world’s hospitals. Its ability to suppress the immune system means that it’s given to transplant patients to stop them from rejecting their organs and its ability to stop cells from dividing has formed the basis of potential anti-cancer drugs. But the chemical has an even more interesting ability and one that has only just been discovered – it can extend lifespan, for example in mice.

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