Quinoa, gambas, sesame, grapefruit gelée, and herbsCHRISTOPHE LAVELLEChristophe Lavelle, a biophysicist with the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) studying—among other things—how genomes are compacted within nuclei, has always been fascinated by food. And now he’s merging his loves for life science and cooking to teach biophysics and molecular gastronomy to both general-interest science students and professional chefs.
The Scientist caught up with Lavelle over e-mail in advance of the Biophysical Society meeting being held this week in Washington, DC, where he is presenting on his culinary approach to teaching biophysics, and vice versa.
The Scientist: How did you first become interested in the intersection of biophysics, epigenetics, and food science?
Christope Lavelle: From a purely academic point of view, I started as a physicist and was mostly interested in condensed matter. Then, frustrated by my lack of knowledge in living matter, I moved to biology for my PhD. But in the end, I was hired at the CNRS in the chemistry department. . . . I’m trying to merge the various disciplines—physics, chemistry, biology—to decipher the mechanisms behind gene expression. At the ...
