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The inauguration took place on Thursday. At the Pasteur Institute, all eyes were on the new recruit on the campus, called "Titan Krios (TM)". At a height of 4 meters, this microscope is a technological revolution, whose magnification is ten thousand times higher than that of a conventional microscope.
"It is of unequaled power", confirms Olivier Schwartz enthusiastically , scientific director of the Institut Pasteur. With this new tool, "the researchers will earn a considerable amount of work, months or even years," he added.
Because before him, to study the structure of a molecule, the process was very long and perilous. Now, "we will be able to examine cells, viruses and bacteria in their native environment, with extraordinary precision – on the scale of an atom – and under optimal conditions," says the scientific director of the prestigious Institute.
The Titan Krios Microscope – Come SITTLER / REA Jump Ahead for Research [19659006] All the samples observed are cryopreserved – immersed in liquid nitrogen at -180 degrees – in order to keep them in their natural state, an essential step in understanding some previously inaccessible processes. understand how normal cells become cancer cells for example, "says Olivier Schwartz.
But not only Titan Krios will also be very useful in" the development of antiviral molecules the "for very complicated viruses. For example, with the microscope, the Institut Pasteur has already managed to gain access to the structure of the Zika virus. A first step then hoping to find him antibodies and thus design a vaccine.
Ditto for neurodegenerative diseases. After observing the receptors of certain neurotransmitters, researchers hope to "create neurodegenerative disease molecules," says Olivier Schwartz.
10 million euros
To acquire it, it took almost seven years, explains Olivier Schwartz. Because this technological monster has a price: more than 10 million euros, between the purchase of the microscope and the construction of the building.
In addition to the state subsidies and the own funds of the Institute, a campaign of crowdfunding was launched in 2016 to raise over a million and a half euros
New challenges
But this extraordinary tool, if it solves some constraints, brings others. "It was a real organizational challenge," says Olivier Schwartz. Because to welcome Titan Krios has needed to build a special shelter, taking into account a series of very specific parameters such as electromagnetic fields, temperature, humidity, as well as ensure a source of nitrogen and a vibration
This is why the situation of the building on campus and its structure have been well thought out so that it has its own ventilation system, and the interior walls are shielded to resist any magnetic fields coming from from outside (metro, mobile phones, wifi).
The Nocard building housing the microscope – François Gardy – Institut Pasteur "It was also necessary to recruit teams capable of mastering these techniques" size the scientific director of the Institute. A research unit was therefore created.
Finally, the microscope being totally digital, with an badysis capacity of 12 samples simultaneously, the Institut Pasteur had to plan how to store all these data.
«Titan Krios (TM) is half a terabyte or even a terabyte of information acquired per day, which can represent up to 400 TB per year, "says Michael Nilges, head of the Structural Bioinformatics Unit and director of Department of Structural Biology and Chemistry at the Institut Pasteur
"The challenge is to be able to keep all this data so that any specialist in France can go digging into this wonderful visual library. »Advanced computer equipment must still be installed.
Hélène Gully
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