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Fundamental Research Division
The DRF at the CEA assemble approximately 6,000 scientists since January 2016.
Proteins that are supposed to be the guardians of neuronal cytoskeletons turn out to play a role in the establishment of brain connections. This discovery from the CEA-IRTSV and INSERM, made in a rodent model, has potential applications in psychiatry.
A special issue of the journal Science features the first results from the Tara Oceans expedition with five publications, in which the CEA-IG participated.
Research teams from INRA and the CEA have just sequenced for the first time the genome of the pedunculate oak tree, which is widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere. This work will improve our understanding of the adaptive mechanisms of trees to environmental variations, and will thus provide elements that can be used to anticipate their responses to climate change.
Following the discovery of a protein structure that makes sodium transport across bacterial membranes possible, a team of Russian, German and French (IBS) scientists has developed a potential new tool for optogenetics. The latter is a field of research at the crossroads of optics and genetics.
Certain mobile DNA sequences shape genomes and are maintained over the course of generations. How is this explained? The interaction between two proteins, which is essential for their integration into a specific area of the yeast genome, has been identified. This finding has interesting implications for gene therapy.
What are the dynamics with which a protein becomes functional? Researchers from the IBS (CEA, CNRS, UJF), in collaboration with the EPFL and ENS of Lyon, have designed an NMR device capable of observing a protein progressively “wake up” from an inert to functional state. This is a first in analyzing these complex, perpetually mobile biological molecules.
The movement of water in the brain, particularly within neurons, could serve as an early marker of Alzheimer’s disease.
People afflicted with microcephaly have undersized brains. Researchers from the CEA-I2BM have developed a mathematical analysis of MRI images that can discriminate variations in cortical folding complexity. This is a methodological step towards a more effective diagnostic approach, as well as a better understanding of cerebral development.
An international team involving the IBS has just demonstrated the role that water has on the activity of proteins at the molecular level. The researchers discovered how the movement of water molecules is involved on the surface of proteins in order to make them dynamic and therefore functional.
Why are we not aware of external noises while we sleep? A study by the CEA-I2BM shows that even if the sounds still penetrate into the auditory cortex, sleep disrupts the brain’s ability to anticipate.
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CEA is a French government-funded technological research organisation in four main areas: low-carbon energies, defense and security, information technologies and health technologies. A prominent player in the European Research Area, it is involved in setting up collaborative projects with many partners around the world.