Yves Bertheau
Research director, INRA (Institut national de la recherche agronomique)
After a PhD in biochemistry and a HDR in Plant pathology, I am currently Research director in INRA (Institut national de la recherche agronomique, Versailles, France).
After more than 20 years of basic research and teaching in INA P-G, I moved to applied research of INRA
My former laboratory is dedicated to the detection of GMO mostly by PCR. I am currently heading a team on the management of research programs on GMO traceability in suppply chains.
From 1999 to 2009 coordinator of the French “national network of detection and identification of GMO and derived products”.
Since 2009, member of the Scentific Committee of the "Haut conseil des biotechnologies".
I have been and I am still member of several national and European research programs (QPCRGMOFOOD www.vetinst.no/Qpcrgmofood/about.htm, GMOCHIPS http://www.gmochips.org/, PETER http://www.peter-project.org/ SIGMEA http://sigmea.dyndns.org/ ), DOGMATIS on GM fishes, and I have been coordinator of the 4.5 years FP6 IP Co-Extra project on GM and non-GM supply chains coexistence and traceability issues ( http://www.coextra.eu/ ), a 53 partners of 18 countries program with a budget of 24M€ (13M€ EC funded) started in 2005 and ended in 2009, with more than 200 scientists.
I have been chairing the French AFNOR standardization commission dedicated to the detection of GMO (standard released in December 2000) and I have been task-leader of the “Quantitative PCR” ad-hoc WG group of the European standardization Committee CEN/TC 275/WG 11 until its publication (ISO DIS 21570).
I have been and I am still member of several scientific advisory and steering committees including ENGL, the European Network of GMO laboratories ( http://engl.jrc.it ), and of editorial boards of several scientific journals.
I am now more an dmore involved in management of multidisciplinary research programs and structures involving or not stakeholders.
17 contacts- Head, since February 2006, of a INRA team on co-existence and traceability, particularly in GM and non-GM supply chains
- Head, from 1999 till February 2006, of a INRA team in Versailles dedicated to the detection, identification and quantification of GMO and traceability in supply chains.
- Coordinator or member of several national (ministries of Agriculture, Research, in charge of Fraud repression, ANR-OGM on GM fishes…) and European research programs on the detection of GMO (e.g. QPCRGMOFOOD, GMOCHIPS, SIGMEA ( http://sigmea.dyndns.org ), Co-Extra ( http://www.coextra.eu/ ), PETER ( http://www.eu-peter.org/ ).
- Expert for the EC and French and Belgian Competent Authorities on several GMO related dossiers such as reliability of Fraud repression services data on GMO containing seeds, “negative list” of 258/97/EC (“Novel food” European regulation), BioResponse Working Group on Agri-terrorisme (Ispra’s JRC).
- Coordinator of the French delegation to the CEN/TC 275/WG 11 and ISO TC 34 standardization working groups (1999-2005).
- Task-leader of the “Quantitative PCR” ad-hoc group of the European standardization CEN/TC 275/WG 11 (1999-2005).
- Coordinator of the French network of enforcement laboratories on GMO detection (1999- )
- Member of the steering committee of ENGL (European Network of GMO laboratories http://engl.jrc.it/ chaired by the JRC), the plenary sessions and working group on e.g. performance criteria of detection methods.
- Member of the steering Committee of the Biotechnology division of the AACC (American Association of Cereal Chemists), of the editorial boards of EBAF (Encyclopaedia of Biotechnology in Agriculture and Food) and of Food Analyical Methods.
- organizer or co-organizer of national and international conferences (100 < attendees < 300)
- reviewer for several international journals of scientific papers, reviews, etc.
- reviewer of US and Canadian research programs
- expert on several industral programs (up to 30 M Francs)
Assistant puis maître de conférences en Pathologie végétale, INA P-G (Institut national agronomique Paris-Grignon)
1979 - 1999Supervisor of 20 phD students, and several undergraduate and graduated French and foreign students.
Coordinator or member of several national (ANVAR, AIP INRA, CTPS...) and European (BEP, BAP, Value, AIR, CAMAR, COST-88, COST-823, SMT) research programs.
Technical expertise:
- enzymes of plant cell wall degradation produced by pectinolytic erwinias (biochemistry, cytology, immunology)
- structures of the populations of pectinolotyic erwinias (phenotypic and genetic polymorphisms, phylogeny, plant pathogen interactions, immunology), applications to the classification of plant pathogens,
- identification of Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica agent of the potato black-leg by specific DNA fragments isolated by genomic subtraction,
- development of a PCR based commercial kit (Sanofi Diagnostic Pasteur) to specifically detect potato seed born Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica (causal agent of potato blackleg).
- expert for several companies, and of research projects of industrial companies (up to 30 M Francs).
- coordinator of INRA assessment studies on PCR (1989-1991), etc.
- Senior lecturer in Plant pathology (1979-1999) at INA P-G, initiator of new trainings e.g. on Internet and web-based lectures (1994-1999)
- reviewer of scientific papers for international journals.
PhD student then militray service as a scientist, INRA and ISRA (Institut Sénégalais de recherche agricole)
1976 - 1981- research programs on the variability of the enzymatic activities of phosphatases of the vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae symbioses (biochemistry), effects of different growth conditions and genetic backgrounds on the expression of the vesicular arbuscular myrcorrhizae symbioses of wheat, enzymatic (plant breeding, agronomy)
- effect of organic residues on the yield of corn, sorghum and millet in Senegal, local surveys and field experiments.
- sustainable development in Senegal through the adaptation and installation of small bio-gaz fermentors to local conditions