LEEC 

The article of Baptiste Piqueret, Brigitte Bourachot, Chloé Leroy, Paul Devienne, Fatima Mechta-Grigoriou, Patrizia d'Ettorre and Jean-Christophe Sandoz (see below) has been highlighted in the journal Science & Vie, HS 308, page 68. [for subscribers only].

An article of Baptiste Piqueret, Brigitte Bourachot, Chloé Leroy, Paul Devienne, Fatima Mechta-Grigoriou, Patrizia d'Ettorre and Jean-Christophe Sandoz has been published in iScience

Ants detect cancer cells through volatile organic compounds

Cancer detection is a public health issue, but the methods currently available (e.g. MRI or mammography for breast cancer) are often expensive and/or invasive, which limits their widespread use. Alternative methods, such as the use of the animal sense of smell, are being studied, and promise a cheaper and non-invasive detection of cancers. A team of researchers from the Laboratory of Experimental and Compared Ethology at the Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, the Institut Curie, the Université Paris-Saclay and the CNRS has tested the feasibility of using a common species of ant for this task. After a minutes-long training, these insects, that make extensive use of olfaction for their daily tasks, were able to differentiate healthy human cells from cancerous ones. By analysing the compounds emitted by the different cells, the scientists demonstrated that each cell line had its own smell that could be used by the ants to detect them. The effectiveness of this method needs to be evaluated in clinical tests using a whole organism, but this first study shows the high potential of ants, able to learn quickly, at a low cost, while still be effective. These results can be seen in iScience.

An article of Baptiste Piqueret, Jean-Christophe Sandoz and Patrizia d'Ettorre has been published in R. Soc. Open Sci. 6: 190778.

Combinatorial Inference in Geometrie Data Analysis deals with combinatorial inference methods for Geometrie Data Analysis (GDA). It proposes multidimensional statistical inference methods that make no assumption to the process of generating data or distributions and that are not based on random modelling but on permutation procedures recasted in a combinatorial framework. The book focuses particularly on problems of typicality-comparisons of a group of observations to a reference population (combinatorial test) orto a reference value of location parameter (geometrie test) and on problems of homogeneity-comparison of several groups for two basic designs. These methods consist in using combinatorial procedures to build a reference set with respect to which we situate the data. The chosen test statistics lead to original extensions: geometric interpretation of the observed level and construction of a compatibility region.

Small, marine hermaphroditic worms (Polychaeta) are capable of sophisticated forms of reciprocation: sexual partners exchange egg clutches and lay approximately as many eggs as they have received from the partners.

13/09/2018 The Universite Sorbonne Paris Nord, USPN and the Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, UATs have co-signed an agreement to facilitate the exchange of researchers and teachers between both etablissements. For this occasion, different administrative representatives of the Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala came to USPN to hand over the signed convention and to discuss further collaborations. The link between USPN and UATx was initially based on a longstanding and fruitful scientific collaboration between the Laboratoire d Ethologie (LEEC) of USPN and the Centro Tlaxcala de Biología de la Conducta, CTBC of the UATx, focusing on the development of individual differences in behavior of small mammals.

Rapatrier et soigner les blessés, une étude sur les fourmis combattantes de Côte d’Ivoire. Des chercheurs allemands montrent que lors de combats avec des termites, certaines fourmis africaines ramassent leurs blessés, les ramènent au nid et les soignent rapidement. Une activité de secouriste unique dans la nature.

Interview with Elise Nowbahari on rescue behaviour of ants. Podcast 'La tête au carré'  (France Inter).

Synchronised swimming seems to make dolphins more optimistic.
Having a mate to swim with – and mirror their movements – appears to make zoo dolphins feel more positive about their prospects in life.

An article of Isabella L.K. Clegg, Heiko G. Rödel and Fabienne Delfour (published in Behavioural Brain Research 322, 115-122) has been highlighted in New Scientist.

Deux scientifiques ont travaillé sur cette araignée, Florian Reveillion et Pierre-Olivier Maquart. Vous pouvez voir deux exemples de cet amblypyge sur la photo ci-contre, ou lire leur article pour en savoir plus sur animal.
Lire l'article

Une jolie démonstration du LEEC et de ses membres qui "tissent un peu plus leur toile" (scientifique) dans leur domaine.

An article of Marylin Rangassamy and colleagues published in Animal Behaviour has been highlighted in ScienceNews.

Epistasis between adults ans larvae underlies caste fate and fitness in a clonal ant.
Nature Communications 5, article number: 3363

Van Oystaeyen et al. (2014) Conserved class of queen pheromones stops social insect workers from reproducing. Science 343, 287-290.

The Gallant Ant by Laura Spinney