Hélène Bergès facts for kids

Hélène Bergès is a French scientist born on August 27, 1966, in Pau, France. She is known for her important work in genomics, especially with plants. She led the French Plant Genomic Resources Center from when it started until 2019.

Her School Days

Hélène Bergès studied at the Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier University. In 1995, she earned her doctorate degree. This means she completed advanced studies in genetics and molecular biology. These fields are about how living things inherit traits and how tiny parts of cells work.

Her Work and Leadership

After finishing her PhD, Hélène Bergès started working at the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in 1998. At first, she focused on how plants interact with tiny living things called microbes.

In 2003, she helped create a new department called the French Plant Genomic Resources Center (CNRGV). She was the director of this center until 2019. The CNRGV has about twenty people working there. They work with scientists all over the world on projects to understand plant genomes. A genome is like a complete set of instructions for building a living thing.

The CNRGV also works on projects funded by the French Government and the European Union. Hélène Bergès is also part of a special committee that helps the French Parliament understand science and technology. In 2021, she was featured in an exhibition in Toulouse called "La Science taille XX elles," which highlighted women in science.

Her Discoveries

Hélène Bergès's early research looked at a type of bacteria called Escherichia coli. She studied how these bacteria work at a very tiny level.

Later, she started looking at bacteria that live around plant roots. She helped develop special tools called microarrays. These tools allowed her to measure which genes were active in these bacteria.

She quickly saw how important it was to map out the entire genetic code of plants. Her more recent work involves big projects to sequence the genomes of important crops. These include plants like barley, wheat, and sunflowers. Understanding these genomes helps scientists improve crops and grow more food.

Awards and Special Recognitions

Hélène Bergès has received many awards for her important scientific work.

• In 2012, the National Institute for Agricultural Research gave her their engineering award.
• In 2015, she received the Vermeil Medal from the French Academy of Agriculture.
• She was also made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2015, which is a very high award in France.
• She is also a Knight of the Order of Agricultural Merit.
• In 2018, she received the "Outstanding Leadership Award" from the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium. This award recognized her leadership in projects that help scientists study wheat genomes.