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Partners
- Agence universitaire de la francophonie
- CIRAD
- University of Paris Xl
- CNRS
- French Embassy in Cotonou
- Centre béninois de la recherche scientifique et technique.
Research units
Crop Diversity, Adaptation and DevelopmentSudBiotech: teaching biotechnologies in Benin
14/08/2009 - Press release
From 6 to 11 July, a second workshop on plant molecular biology and biotechnologies was held at the Science and Technology Faculty of the University of Abomey-Calavi in Cotonou (Benin).
The workshop, which was attended by 28 students from eight countries (Benin, Togo, Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Chad and Nigeria) was part of the SudBiotech* project, which was set up to build an ongoing North-South plant biotechnology training network. It was open to students, researchers, decision-makers and professionals.
The initiative is being funded in 2009 and 2010 by the AUF (Agence universitaire de la francophonie). The 2009 workshop was also supported by the French Embassy in Cotonou and by CIRAD.
"For several years now, we have wanted to set up a biotechnology teaching facility in Africa
", Alain Rival, a CIRAD researcher**, explains. "The
students there are desperate to learn, but have almost nothing in their laboratories. The basics required for understanding the different techniques and the issues surrounding them are often taught in several different courses, and to a very variable degree depending on the universities. We therefore decided to include them in a single course, illustrated by carefully chosen experiments
".
Practical work and supervised exercises on plant science, plant biotechnologies and genetic engineering have thus been organized since 2007, headed by the French researchers Yves Henry (Institut de Biotechnologie des Plantes, CNRS, Orsay: yves.henry@u-psud.fr ) and Aimé Nato (Paris Sud XI University, Orsay: aime.nato@u-psud.fr ), with the help of teacher-researchers from Benin. In all, 50 hours of workshops to tackle the concerns and expectations expressed by the participants during informal talks at the start of each workshop. In 2009, the emphasis was also on including local teaching staff and expanding the choice of practical experiments resulting directly from current research, with the organization of four practical sessions:
- TP1/Metabolic and morphological flexibility (effect of light and plant hormones on growth and development, protein titration, native and denaturing electrophoresis and western blot)
- TP2/Plant nucleotide extraction (simplified protocol using simple ingredients: cooking salt and domestic detergent, visualization of nucleotide sequences using EtBr under UV)
- TP3/GMO detection using PCR (training in PCR, electrophoresis, effect of amplification conditions)
- TP4/Recombining protein production by in vitro culture (detection by western blot, revelation by labelled secondary IgGs).
A teaching package
This year, a day open to the public was devoted to biotechnologies in African agriculture, with a talk by Alain Rival on genetic engineering and its public image. A presentation by Dr Lagnika also explained how molecules from plants endemic to Benin with antimalarial or antimicrobial properties have been isolated and identified. The day ended with a series of films and a debate.
The tutors involved, who are keen to ensure that people understand the basic principles clearly, have set up a website that fits in with the teaching aims of the workshop. They suggested to the students at the workshop that they make use of it throughout their university courses. Printed and digital documents were also distributed to the participants.
As Alain Rival points out, "we are keeping the fire burning and stoking the enthusiasm of African students with this workshop in infrastructures that could in many cases be improved... We have to supply most of the reagents and consumables required and cope with power cuts, but we can extract DNA with cooking salt and dispel the mystery surrounding many concepts by virtue of a resolutely practical and deductive approach. And this is real science! " A type of science that is spreading, as biotechnology micro-networks, led by the students who attended the first workshops, are being set up in French-speaking Africa. The workshop participants have even launched a virtual forum!
The teaching team now wants to "fine-tune the teaching tool ", notably with a view to e-learning via the Internet in support of teachers on site, and to leave mini-labs with all the necessary equipment for practical sessions when it leaves. A "teaching package " could be left with local teachers to ensure that the workshop not only continues to exist but continues to grow!
The next teaching mission funded by the AUF SudBiotech-Bénin project will be in December 2010. It will include the organization of a third workshop and enable Kifouli Adeoti, a Beninese PhD student supported by the SudBiotech project, to defend his thesis.
- Category: Institutional