BUDDING RESEARCHERS
- …what interests us is in there….
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That’s right, these lower sixth form students are interested in egg whites – or to be specific, a protein found in egg whites called lysozyme. Wednesday afternoon after classes, these novice researchers try to reconstitute the structure of this protein. But instead of conducting their research at school, they will be working in real scientific laboratories and at SOLEIL synchrotron.
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- We’ll be working with real scientists
- I’m curious to see how things are done in a scientific workshop and how scientists really work.
- Not everyone has the chance to do research at SOLEIL synchrotron, I consider myself very lucky.
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The idea for this workshop originated in 2009, with the Centre Region, the Orléans-Tours education authority and SOLEIL synchrotron.
At the time, two Sciences teachers from Eure-et-Loir suggested a project that won unanimous support.
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Carole Garcia, Life and Earth Sciences teacher
Jehan de Beauce high school (Chartres)
- We decided to study the protein in egg whites known as lysozyme. We planned to extract it, purify it and show the students how this protein structure can be obtained. They are used to seeing these protein structures in their text books, but we wanted to show them how the things they deal with everyday in their classes are actually arrived at.
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Before going to the synchrotron facility, this group of young students first had to extract, purify and crystallize the protein. Researchers from the University of Chartres and the CNRS good-naturedly agreed to lend them a hand.
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Franck Coste, research engineer
CNRS Molecular Biophysics Centre
- First we will perform the crystal-production or "crystallogenesis" stage.
Nucleation or nucleus formation is the seeding of the first molecules (let’s say 3, 4, 5 etc.) which begin to form around each other. This is called the nucleus. Nucleation is the crystal’s point of departure.
Now we will move on to the crystal growing stage.
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At their work surfaces, the students familiarize themselves with their instruments: Petri dishes, crystallization agents, protein solutions, pipettes and so on.
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- It’s not easy at the beginning…
- You have to press, but not too hard, otherwise, no go!
- How do I get 575?
- You go squish, squish, squish a few times in there.
- Do I put it in the middle?
- To get 575, you have to be very precise. These are important steps; there, that’s right.
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The students rapidly take control of the situation and become true experts.
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- We mixed different liquids together; some will fall into the tray while the other liquid with protein in it will be retained; that’s when the protein is crystallized.
There are 4 microlitres - that’s not very much - but enough to obtain a crystal.
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A few weeks later, the crystals appeared. Some of them, which formed a little too quickly, resemble sea urchins.
Others had a nice geometric shape, perfect for X-ray analysis.
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- We are going to work on the beamline you see over there with the light blue doors.
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The time had finally come to go to SOLEIL synchrotron’s PROXIMA 1 beamline.
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Andrew Thompson, PROXIMA 1 beamline manager
SOLEIL synchrotron
- When I was young, I was very interested in science, but it didn’t enter my mind to become a researcher; it would have been interesting to find out exactly what is involved.
This gives these young people a little foretaste. I think that could help them with their career decisions in the future.
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Before exposing their crystals to the X-rays, the students must first go fishing.
- There are several crystals in the drop; I am going to catch one with the lasso and put it in a drop of oil to remove all the water so that later, when I plunge it into nitrogen, it won’t explode.
- It’s not often you get to go fishing!
Beatriz Guimaraes, scientist on the PROXIMA 1 beamline
SOLEIL synchrotron
- Just plunge it in there, that’s perfect!
Michel Khairallah, responsible for science promotion
Orléans-Tours Education Authority
- In books, students read about experiments after their completion, instead of doing them themselves. The idea was to put students in an actual research situation so that, little by little, they can see how an idea is developed, how it is gradually constructed, and how the reflection process and research is conducted to arrive at what we are going to see today. As a result, we will be able to observe a crystal that was purified, crystallized and obtained after several months of work.
Valérie Péduzy, teacher at the Versailles Education Authority
- We wanted to awaken some vocations in science and steer them towards the field of research where, for the moment, there are few candidates.
- When I tried to put the little magnet in the tube, I dropped it.
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The students have two hours of valuable beamtime on PROXIMA 1, which is being made available to these “budding researchers” on an exceptional basis. They will be able to analyze the structure of their crystals thanks to the beamline’s intense X-rays, just like real scientists.
The diffraction patterns then appear on the screen; thanks to these patterns, the students will finally be able to see the lysozyme molecule appear in 3D.
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- It was great and really precise… And voila! Just like that we’re real researchers!
- But there’s a big difference between that and understanding everything you need to know to reconstitute the structure; I think it’s much too complicated for us.
- Personally, I never asked myself how it was obtained; that’s when you realize that it’s a very complicated process, with the spinning propellers, and everything you see in the text book.
- It’s a process of discovery, learning to do research on your own, through hands-on practice.
- We expected the researchers to be really serious, but instead, they joke amongst themselves, and everyone gets along really well.
- They talk to us very openly; I think it’s great to share knowledge like that between researchers and students.
- You realize that you could be a researcher some day; that it’s something accessible to anyone who has a strong desire and motivation to achieve their goal.
