The 2018 Cell Biology course at HKU-Pasteur Research Pole has started! We focus this year on proteomics in cell biology of human diseases, welcoming 19 bright participants from diverse backgrounds and institutions.
After a morning dedicated to self-presentations and introduction to the course objectives, how to start the 10 days together the best way? By paying a visit to Tara, the famous French aluminium schooner used for scientific expeditions around the world. The boat is currently moored in Hong Kong, one of her Asian stopovers on the way of the Tara Pacific expedition that has started in 2016. The scientific goal of this expedition is to study the coral reefs of the Pacific Ocean, home of a great diversity of marine species but under the threat of climate change.
Chris Bowler, plant and algal genomics researcher in Paris and former scientific coordinator of the Tara Oceans expedition (2009-2013) that carried out an inventory of planktons in the world’s oceans, guided the Cell Biology Course students through the ship. A chance to get details about the boat itself, the scientific missions, the people onboard, the science equipments…
We all thank the Tara Expeditions people for offering us such an enriching opportunity! While Tara’s next stopover will be in Xiamen, the participants’ next destination is intense cell biology lectures and hands-on practical sessions with a world-renowned faculty team.
And last but not least, thanks to the sponsors that make this course possible: the Pasteur Foundation Asia, the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macau, and the Institut Pasteur International Network!