Laureates of the interdisciplinary call 2021

Projects funded in 2021

• Olivier Rivoire (Collège de France), Olivier Espeli (Collège de France) and Romain Koszul (Institut Pasteur) - Quantitative transcription: in vivo feedback between gene expression and the physical state of DNA | Genes are constantly turned on and off in living cells. This activity is partly regulated by the physics of the DNA double helix that encodes these genes. Our project is to understand quantitatively how the physics of DNA is relevant to gene regulation.

• Feng-Ching Tsai (Team Bassereau, Institut Curie), Olivia du Roure (ESPCI), Julien Heuvingh (ESPCI) and Julien Berro (NYU, USA) - Roles of unconventional myosins in actin-based force production and membrane dynamics in endocytosis | Endocytosis is essential for numerous cellular functions; when failing, it causes many human diseases including cancers and neurodegenerative disease. Our project aims at revealing the precise roles of unconventional myosin motors in endocytosis.

• Jean-Baptiste Masson (Institut Pasteur), Bassam Hajj (Institut Curie) and Laurent Salomon (Hôpital Necker)  - From the fetal face to a diagnosis | We combine pregnant women & foetus MRI imaging to a mix of physics and statistical modelling combined with Augmented Reality software to improve foetus diagnosis.

• Marie-Emilie Terret (Collège de France), Martin lenz (EPSCI), Clément Campillo (U Évry) and Elsa Labrune (HCL)  - Cortical tension, a predictor of oocyte developmental potential | Many human oocytes are naturally of poor quality, leading to fertility issues and relatively low success rates in in vitro fertilization. This project uses state-of-the art imaging and biophysical approaches to learn how to recognize the best-quality oocytes, and thus potentially improve personalized reproductive medicine.

• Nicolas Desprat (ENS), Mathieu Coppey (Institut Curie), Thierry Mora (ENS) and Jean-François Allemand (ENS)  - Dynamics of optogenetically induced mutants in bacterial microcolonies | Some of the enzymes that confer antibiotic resistance can act at distance in the environment, therefore protecting otherwise sensitive bacteria. Using optogenetics we will induce a single sensitive mutant in a growing microcolony and measure how fast and far it can proliferate.