{"id":28224,"date":"2020-05-25T17:34:44","date_gmt":"2020-05-25T15:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monaco-tribune.com\/2020\/05\/monaco-scientific-centre-this-exceptional-health-crisis-will-certainly-highlight-peoples-interest-in-science\/"},"modified":"2020-05-25T17:43:05","modified_gmt":"2020-05-25T15:43:05","slug":"monaco-scientific-centre-this-exceptional-health-crisis-will-certainly-highlight-peoples-interest-in-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monaco-tribune.com\/en\/2020\/05\/monaco-scientific-centre-this-exceptional-health-crisis-will-certainly-highlight-peoples-interest-in-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Monaco Scientific Centre: “This exceptional health crisis will certainly highlight people’s interest in science”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Monaco Scientific Centre (CSM), which was created in 1960 by Prince Rainier III, is the only research centre in the Principality. The CSM is one of Monaco\u2019s most important institutions, active throughout the year, particularly during the current Covid-19 pandemic.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scientific research has taken centre stage during the health crisis. Scientific Director of Monaco Scientific Centre<\/a>, Denis Allemand spoke<\/a> to Monaco Tribune about current events, the role of CSM, and the role of scientists in today\u2019s current climate.<\/p>\n

Do you think that the health and economic crisis will push people to take a greater interest in sustainable development and scientific issues?<\/strong><\/p>\n

This exceptional health crisis will certainly highlight people’s interest in science. These are the benefits of this catastrophe. During lockdown, there was a real appetite for scientific publications. People went en masse to scientific websites to read articles they would never have bothered to open a few weeks earlier. This shows that when there is a problem, everyone turns to researchers for explanations and answers.<\/p>\n

Until now, research has not really been a priority in many countries<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Have you felt there has been less of an interest in science recently?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you see the news, science, the latest data and research don\u2019t or rarely make the headlines unless it is about something shaking up what we already know. Behind the curtain, science is building on various significant advances to construct greater general understandings through ongoing research. Until now, research has not really been a priority in many countries.<\/p>\n

In France, the only reliable test recommended for detecting Covid-19 is PCR. Can you tell us about the origins of this process?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The process is built on small results, and currently, there is a lot of talk in the press about PCR (an enzyme amplification technique that makes it possible to obtain a large number of identical copies of one DNA fragment), a method based on a discovery by a researcher in the 1960s, who found bacteria living in the lakes of Yellowstone Park in the United States. This research on the microbiological biodiversity of these warm, acidic lakes had no medical purpose. This researcher described a bacterium living at sixty degrees, and then other researchers studied it in more detail, isolating enzymes from this bacterium that can function at very high temperatures. So today, the fact that we can detect viruses and that PCR is used in laboratories and forensics worldwide, it’s because of a simple discovery by a microbiologist who was studying biodiversity. If it hadn’t been for that research and that accurate detection, we wouldn’t be where we are today. It is essential to look, but not to look for an application. It is research that will make the applications and not the other way around.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Centre Scientifique De Monaco (@csm_monaco)<\/a> on