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n° 80 - August - September - October 2015 Le journal de l'IRD Translations: Technicis A ruby’s properties are determined by its geological and geochemical history. Scientists identify the various mechanisms that produce gems of so many different qualities. p. 5 Partners Glaciers shrinking around Everest A p. 2 News Corals vulnerable metal pollution to Experimental vaccine against malaria in pregnant women P p. 5 Partners S S ickle-cell anaemia is a very serious hereditary haemoglobin disorder that attacks people of African and Indian origin. It affects 50 million people throughout the world and kills over 200,000 of them each year. It is a major problem for sufferers, for the many families involved, for the health services, for society and for the progress of developing countries. In seeking solutions, scientists from the IRD and their partners have looked at the human, social, epidemiological and clinical aspects of this scourge. Storing carbon in the soil: solving the problem with “Four parts per thousand” H T he increase in greenhouse gases is affecting all sectors, all regions and every community in the world. This demands some scientific thought. In response, as many as 2,000 scientists, physicists, biologists, ecologists, sociologists and agronomists from a hundred different countries, met during the conference “Our Common Future Under Climate Change”. The published aim of the meeting was to take stock of the latest scientific knowledge, and to interpret it for decision makers. In this context, the IRD and its partners were very active, covering climate variability in the Pacific islands, the impact of climate on the health and vulnerability of the Sahel people, and assessing the risk of more extreme events. © INRA / C. Maitre Fighting sickle-cell anaemia p. 8 and 9 Research p. 13 Planet ECAS Conference T he attention of researchers in the social sciences is taken up by the ongoing political upheavals in Africa and the advent of new popular movements. Attendance was very high at the recent European Conference on African Studies to study the various aspects of the question. B © IRD / Vincent Chaplot ow the Zika virus is transmitted, and in particular how it infects humans, is still not well understood. A research team has just cast some light on the issue. It has discovered how Zika penetrates its host’s cells, reproduces and spreads through the organism. The researchers simulated infection by mosquito bite in vitro, by inoculating virus particles into a section of skin. They then used electronic imaging to observe how the virus behaved. p. 13 Planet In Paris, science is helping the climate negotiations © CIRMF / L. Delicat target aize is the most important cereal in Mexico, representing 63% of the country’s harvest. Its capacity to adapt to the environment has thus been the focus of a great deal of scientific research. A scientific challenge that the IRD research team (JEAI) Epimaize is helping to meet. It has just made an important breakthrough in understanding the epigenetic mechanisms regulating maize’s response to environmental conditions. p. 7 Research IRD / M. Jacquet Zika: therapeutic identified © DP © IRD / R. Rodolfo-Metalpa M p. 3 News p. 12 Planet East-African runners and the culture of athletics uman and social sciences are interested in why east-African athletes dominate core athletics. Ignoring the usual biogenetic assumptions, specialists at a symposium in Addis Ababa provide explanations related to the organization of society. Maize epigenetics ome corals in New Caledonia react faster to water polluted by the metal cobalt than to ocean acidification. Many studies have looked at the effect of global warming and ocean acidification on corals, but none of them took into consideration the fact that cnidarians near the coasts are already affected by pollution linked to human activity. lacental malaria is particularly virulent in tropical and subtropical regions, and poses a risk to 125 million women each year. Affecting primarily the mother, the parasite is also dangerous for the fœtus. If a pregnant woman is infected, there are few drugs that are safe to use. For this reason, a team from the IRD has for several years been trying to develop a vaccine. The team has identified the mechanisms that allow the parasite to build up in the placenta: plasmodium falciparum invades the red blood cells and adds a protein that can adhere to a placental receptor. Its antigen is the perfect candidate for a vaccine! H p. 6 Education S l Niño, though born in the Pacific, is disrupting weather forecasts across the world. It continues to surprise, and climatologists are still discovering new aspects of it. At present, two separate regimes have been identified. Studies place increasing emphasis on the Indian and Pacific Oceans as a coupled system, one drawing its energy from the other. Inevitably, the response to climate change continues to stimulate debate, but an increasing number of scientists consider that so-called “extreme” events will occur more often. p. 11 Upgrading Chlordecone loses its chlorine uppose that chlordecone, a toxic molecule contaminating more than 19,000 hectares of the French West Indies, degraded spontaneously. Until now, it has been considered naturally indestructible, as its 10 chlorine atoms provide it with a sort of protective cage. A team of researchers has just challenged this model. Their recent work has shown that it may be converted naturally into another molecule, 5b-hydrochlordecone. E y restoring an important carbon sink, agriculture could well become an ally in fighting climate change. On a global scale, if the carbon stored in the ground increased annually by 4 parts per 1000 (0.4%), this would be enough to offset the annual rise in greenhouse gases. As one solution to reduce emissions, the proposal raises very many scientific challenges, both in terms of assessment and to identify the most appropriate cultivation practices. © FlickrCC - A. Gonzalez elow the cordillera of the Bolivian Andes, at an altitude of around 3,500 m, stretches a huge salt crust, bordered with giant cacti: the Salar de Uyuni. But the place has not always been a vast white desert. In the past, more than 50,000 km² of the Altiplano were covered by an enormous salt lake called Tauca. The lake dried up completely around 14,000 years ago and the disappearance of such a quantity of water left its mark on the region’s climate. A research team has recently shown how the mega-lake’s disappearance affected the water cycle. El Niño harries the world’s climate © IRD / V. Briand B ccording to a recent study by an international team, most of the glaciers in the Everest region could disappear by 2100. These conclusions raise questions, and rightly so: currently, the glaciers are losing mass, but at about one third the rate of those in the Alps or tropical Andes. Nepal is home to some of the highest peaks in the world, and they are thus better protected from the rise in temperatures that started after the Little Ice Age. So why such results for the end of the century? They are explained partly by the high sensitivity of these glaciers to temperature, and partly by the extreme warning at high altitude predicted by a number of climate scenarios. © IRD / H. Macarie Lake, salt flat and glacier… © IRD / P. Wagnon p. 1 News p. 10 Research © semanaeconomica.com Recipes for rubies © Flickr CC - T. Faivre-Duboz © IRD / O. Dangles p. 4 Partners © L. D. Bayle / le Règne Minéral Abstracts for the international issue Consult the articles in full on the IRD Internet site: http://www.ird.fr /·,5'GDQVOHPRQGH FRANCE 1352 agents États-Unis Liban TUNISIE MAROC Népal ÉGYPTE MEXIQUE MARTINIQUE GUYANE FRANÇAISE Colombie SÉNÉGAL FASO THAÏLANDE Guinée BÉNIN CAMEROUN Ouganda Gabon Cambodge Éthiopie KENYA INDONÉSIE Seychelles Comores BRÉSIL PÉROU LAOS VIETNAM Mali ÉQUATEUR POLYNÉSIE FRANÇAISE Inde NIGER Guadeloupe Haïti Timor oriental MADAGASCAR BOLIVIE Vanuatu LA RÉUNION NOUVELLECALÉDONIE CHILI Centre ou représentation de l’IRD Autre type de présence PERSONNEL AFFECTÉ OU LOCAL Au 31/12/14 Source : Direction des ressources humaines France métropolitaine Siège Le Sextant 44, bd de Dunkerque CS 90009 13572 Marseille cedex 02 Tél. : +33 (0)4 91 99 92 00 www.ird.fr Centre IRD France-Nord Directeur : Dominique Cavet 32, avenue Henri Varagnat, 93143 Bondy cedex Tél. : +33 (0)1 48 02 55 00 Fax : +33 (0)1 48 47 30 88 bondy@ird.fr Centre IRD France Sud Directeur : Michel Petit BP 64501 - 34394 Montpellier cedex 5 Tél. : +33 (0)4 67 41 61 00 Fax : +33 (0)4 67 41 63 30 montpellier@ird.fr Outre-mer tropical français Guyane Représentant : Michel Brossard IRD, BP 165 - 97323 Cayenne cedex Tél. : +33 (0)5 94 29 92 92 Fax : +33 (0)5 94 31 98 55 cayenne@ird.fr www.cayenne.ird.fr Martinique - Caraïbe Représentant : Patrick Quénéhervé IRD, BP 8006 97259 Fort de France Tél. : +33 (0)5 96 39 77 39 Fax : +33 (0)5 96 50 32 61 martinique@ird.fr Nouvelle-Calédonie Représentant et Délégué Pacifique : Georges De Noni IRD, BP A5 - 98848 Nouméa cedex Tél. : (687) 26 10 00 Fax : (687) 26 07 92 nouvelle-caledonie@.ird.fr Polynésie française Représentant : Marc Taquet IRD, BP 529 - 98713 Papeete Tél. : (689) 50 62 00 - Fax : (689) 42 95 55 polynesie@ird.fr La Réunion Représentant : Pascale Chabanet IRD, BP 172 - 97492 Sainte-Clotilde cedex Tél. : +33 (0)2 62 48 33 56 Fax : +33 (0)2 62 48 33 53 la-reunion@ird.fr Union européenne Représentant : Philippe Cury CLORA, 8, avenue des Arts B1210 Bruxelles Belgique Tél. : +32 2 506 88 48 Fax : +32 2 506 88 45 bruxelles@ird.fr Afrique Afrique du Sud, Mozambique, Botswana, Angola, Zimbabwe Représentant : Jean Albergel Postnet Suite 164 Private Bag X844 Silverton 0127 Pretoria Tél. : 27(0)128440117/0118 Fax : 27(0)128440119 afrique-du-sud@ird.fr Bénin, Togo, Ghana, Nigeria Représentant : Jean-Philippe Chippaux IRD/SCAC Ambassade de France au Bénin - Cotonou IRD s/c Service de la valise diplomatique 92438 Châtillon cedex Tél. : (229) 30 03 52/54 Fax : (229) 30 88 60 benin@ird.fr Burkina Faso Représentant : Jean-Marc Leblanc IRD, 01 BP 182 - Ouagadougou 01 Tél. : (226) 50 30 67 37 Fax : (226) 50 31 03 85 burkina-faso@ird.fr Cameroun, Congo, Gabon, Guinée équatoriale, République Centrafricaine, République démocratique du Congo Représentant : Bruno Bordage IRD, BP 1857 - Yaoundé Tél. : (237) 220 15 08 Fax : (237) 220 18 54 cameroun@ird.fr Côte d’Ivoire Représentant : Jean-Marc Hougard IRD Université Félix Houphouët Boigny (UFHB) Commune de Cocody 08 BP 3800 Abidjan 08 République de Côte d’Ivoire Tel : +225 22 48 50 00 / 06 Fax : +225 22 48 50 08 Courriel : cote-ivoire@ird.fr Égypte, Jordanie, Liban, Libye, Syrie Représentant : Sarah Ben Nefissa IRD, P.O. 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