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- 48 years old
- Biologist specialising in animal genomics and genetics
- Education: PhD in molecular biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Turin, Italy
- Founding member and president of FAiR.
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Elisabetta Giuffra
Exploring animal immune systems and their genes
(12/10/2010)
© INRA, C. Maître
Biologist Elisabetta Giuffra specialises in animal genetics and genomics. She is joining INRA Jouy-en-Josas in December 2010 to lead a high-throughput sequencing project that will cast new light on host-virus relationships in infectious diseases affecting livestock, especially swine. In addition to analysing the biological model itself, the project will give scientists a new level of insight on viruses, their interactions with the host genome, and genome expression itself.
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"My career is a diverse set of experiences, but genetics and molecular biology are the common threads running through it,” said Elisabetta Giuffra. Her talk is peppered with peals of laughter, as though to leaven the complexity of her research work.
The Italian scientist will be joining INRA’s Animal Genetics and Integrative Biology (GABI) research unit as part of a “scientific package,” one of INRA’s programmes for hosting researchers of international renown.
Animal-virus pairs and a tale of genes
The roots of the project that Giuffra will be working on at GABI took hold while she was working with different INRA teams in the framework of the European Eadgene excellence network (2004-2010). At the time, she coordinated the work package on operational genomics. “As part of Eadgene, we worked on Aujeszky’s disease (1), whose primary reservoir is swine. At INRA, we already began studying the regulation of genome expression in the host-pathogen system formed by cells of the animal’s immune system and the Aujeszky virus.”
For the new project, I’ll begin with a high-throughput sequencing of micro-RNA, small regulatory molecules. They play a significant role in development, in cancer, or in host response to diseases. As this concerns a very important level of regulation in the genome, scientists have conducted a vast number of studies in the area, primarily using the classic animal models (mice) and plants. Since the sequencing of livestock genomes, especially the pig’s, hasn’t been completed, things haven’t progressed as much on this front,” explained Giuffra.
INRA Jouy’s extensive animal resources will make it possible to test different genetic sets. “We’ll have swine populations and chicken lines that differ in their immune responses to various pathogens and parasites,” said the scientist. “We’re also thinking of conducting ex vivo tests on porcine nerve tissue where the virus lies dormant.”
Research with a purpose
Elisabetta Giuffra is no stranger to INRA. She received her doctorate in the molecular genetics of fish from Jouy-en-Josas in 1994. “I then returned to Italy. It was a mistake. The country was going through a crisis, and I couldn’t find any work.” Instead of giving up, though, she began a post-doctorate programme in Verona, this time in plant biotechnology.
"I could have changed direction, but science is like a drug to me, or a sort of internal freedom. The act of seeking answers gives things their meaning. Ask a question, find an answer. It’s a process that needs to be repeated. Biology teaches us to be humble. It can be frustrating, because there’s no end in sight. At the same time, something new opens up every time."
© INRA, Christophe Maître
A magical moment
At 48, Giuffra seems to be following this scientific approach to the letter, both in her career and in life. Her second post-doctorate in Uppsala, Sweden, on porcine genetics, was a fresh start after a disappointing experience in applied animal genetics back in Italy.
To crown it all, on her last day in her Swedish laboratory, all her perseverance and discipline paid off in one magical moment. “The result came, bam! Just like that!” she recounted, laughing. It was too good to be true, she thought, but Giuffra had just managed to identify the breakpoint of a genome duplication in the region of the KIT gene, one of the genes that determine coat colour in mammals. These findings set in motion the fine characterisation of a gene playing a fundamental role in the early development of mammals, as well as the creation of a molecular test for detecting the duplication in commercial swine populations.
"I was too Mediterranean to settle down in Sweden,” she admitted. Giuffra returned to Italy’s Parco Tecnologico - where she currently heads the Livestock Genomics section - where everything had to be done from scratch. “I continued some of the work I’d begun in Uppsala on a swine disease, anal atresia, which also affects humans. That’s why pigs are used as the model animal for research. We’ve found regions of association as well as candidate genes that helped us confirm the multifactoral nature of the disease. We were lucky to have an experimental pedigree that was especially sensitive to the disease.”
Opportunities
This marked the starting point of more ambitious, fruitful, and sustained collaborations. Elisabetta Giuffra graciously acknowledged that she was the first in the Parco Tecnologico in Lodi to secure numerous participations in international projects.
In 2004, a grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council brought Giuffra to Scotland, where she worked to untangle the molecular mechanisms that allowed the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) virus to evade the immune defenses of its host. In addition to her work with Eadgene, she has also been a member since 2006 of the evaluation committee of the French National Research Agency’s plant genomics and biotechnologies research programme.
Since 2007, Elisabetta Giuffra has headed FAiR (Fairness and Accountability in Research), an association for equal opportunities in scientific research. Her commitment is also mirrored in the Gender Action Plan she spearheaded for the Sabre and Eadgene programmes.
Elsewhere, a massive undertaking on PRRS with Italian breeders gave rise to a data bank containing nearly 4,000 tissue, DNA, blood and other samples correlated to characteristics including pedigree and clinical phenotype. “It was also a social experiment,” she said with a smile. “We had to make huge efforts in educating the breeders to win their trust. We needed to convince them of the utility of our work, and that results would take some time. I think that’s universal.”
What Elisabetta Giuffra’s arrival means for INRA, by Claire Rogel-Gaillard, Deputy Director of the GABI unit
"The project that Elisabetta Giuffra will handle goes beyond the basic framework of what a virus does in a cell. Sequencing the micro-RNA will yield data that will provide new information on genome structure and expression for both host and virus.
Scientists are doing so much work on the expression of micro-RNA in various biological systems, both pathological and non-pathological. It would be interesting to include the data produced in meta-analyses aimed at identifying host response mechanisms, whether these hosts are shared by pathogens or not.
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Transcription, the first stage of gene expression, is just so complex that we haven’t quite grasped it fully, nor do we find it easy to integrate in genetic analysis models. The proposed study model gives us the chance to use the genetic variability available at the animal genetics lab, and analyse the expression of micro-RNA expressed by genetically well-characterised individuals. This will open a breach in the interactions between genotypes and miRNA transcription.”
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(1) Aujeszky’s disease is a widespread viral disease caused by a Herpesvirus. Although identified in numerous animal species, it primarily affects pigs. The disease’s sanitary and financial impact on breeders is significant, and no specific treatment exists. Depending on the breeder, the disease is fought preventively through vaccination.
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Written by :
Communications Department
Date of creation : 03/12/2010
Date of last update : 08/03/2011
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