Thursday, November 21, late in the morning, Pierre-Romain Le Brun, research engineer at Généthon in Limoges, was at Vayrac college as part of “1,000 researchers in schools”. This operation, organized by the AFM-Téléthon, approved by National Education and with the support of the Association of Biology and Geology Teachers, takes place from November 4 to December 6. Its aim is to introduce students to the latest advances in biomedical research and the daily life of a researcher.
The 3rd year middle school students were invited to meet Pierre-Romain Le Brun, invited by SVT teacher Carole Pouzens, for almost two hours. Officials from the AFM Téléthon du Lot, also present, recalled that the Telethon was created in 1956. Pierre-Romain Le Brun presented genetic research by involving the students: What is a gene? What is a cell compared to a peach: it divides, multiplies and it is a cancer. What are chromosomes, DNA, genetic code?.
Stressing that 3 million people in France and 30 million in Europe were affected by rare genetic diseases, the researcher mentioned treatments such as gene therapy and studies and trials in the Généthon laboratories. Pierre-Romain Le Brun answered students' questions: doping, the ethics of researchers, animal abuse.
The researcher then spoke about his job, recalling his somewhat chaotic study path. Despite catching up on his baccalaureate and in his higher studies, he became a research engineer in immunology and gene therapy. Few students said what they would like to do later, what career they would like to pursue, but the researcher insisted: “You have to love your work, it must be a source of motivation. I work for Généthon , because it’s a choice…”.
Several students then explained the work they had done in SVT class (earth sciences and life) with Carole Pouzens.
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