Understanding the invisible: promising scientific breakthroughs
Published on 27 Mar 2025
A cutting-edge optical platform resulting from a partnership that began as part of the Sentinel North program could lead to promising advances in a number of areas, from the characterization of the brain to that of the ice pack.
The village of Qikiqtarjuaq in Nunavut overlooks the depths of the Arctic Ocean. The mountains that form the backdrop of this community of 600 inhabitants plunge into the sea, rapidly reaching a depth of 400 metres, and then 2,000 metres further out to sea. Very recently, a research station established as part of a collaboration between this community, Qikiqtani Inuit Association and Université Laval opened its doors at this strategic location, just off the coast.
With this laboratory, dozens of scientists are no longer limited to studying the oceanographic processes of the marine ecosystems within the Baffin Island area on land during the summer months. It is therefore a huge asset.
The Qikiqtarjuaq research station offers state-of-the-art facilities for studying oceanographic processes all year round.
Marcel Babin, oceanographer and scientific co-director of Sentinel North, is the driving force behind the research station project and he is among those who will benefit from this new, world-class infrastructure. “We will be able to work on microalgal cell samples freshly collected from the sea water and ice,” he explains. But curiosity prompted him to try and go one step further.
This is where Flavie Lavoie-Cardinal, a professor in the department of psychiatry and neuroscience at Université Laval, comes into play. Her work focuses on the development of methods for observing the molecular interactions between brain cells: the neurons.
Professors Marcel Babin and Flavie Lavoie-Cardinal are developing a cutting-edge optical platform that will enable advances in a number of disciplinary fields.
Credits: Yan Doublet (left) and Vincent Resseguier (right).
The two researchers are currently working together on an innovative technology which will ultimately be used at the Qikiqtarjuaq station: a fluorescence-based optical nanoscope that will allow researchers to better understand changes in Arctic marine environments, as well as shed light on a host of other biological phenomena, from neuronal interactions to the mechanisms of bacterial infections.
A cutting-edge microscope
Microscopic algae, which form the basis of the food chains in this ecosystem and play a crucial role in ocean productivity, have the distinctive capability of surviving the polar night, when hardly any light penetrates below the ice. The mechanisms behind this feat, however, remain poorly understood. “We don’t know, for instance, which proteins regulate their resistance to the shock of freezing,” Marcel Babin points out.
Discerning this level of detail is far from easy. “Microalgae measure approximately 2 to 3 micrometres, a size at the limit of the resolution provided by even the best conventional optical microscopes,” Sentinel North’s scientific co-director explains.
A neuron (left), and the microalga Nitzschia Frigida (right), seen through the fluorescence nanoscope, whose high resolution enables us to better understand a host of biological phenomena.
Credits: Andréanne Deschênes, Kamylle Thériault (FLClab) and Sébastien Guérin (Takuvik).
“My team helps the one led by Marcel to develop strategies to make microalgae fluorescent,” says Flavie Lavoie-Cardinal. This radiated light can then be used to examine the organization of biological tissues at the nanometric scale using an ultra-high resolution microscope, a state-of-the-art instrument.
Future scientific breakthroughs
This new collaboration is based on bridges built between two disciplinary fields which are, a priori, seemingly unrelated. “The cells of microalgae are broadly similar to those of neurons,” explains Marcel Babin. “Like all eukaryotic cells, they contain the same organelles and have several chemical substances in common.”
“This same fluorescence-based optical nanoscopy platform will provide various benefits for several scientific disciplines,” Flavie Lavoie-Cardinal is pleased to say. “It’s an initiative that is truly unique in Canada.” Without the Sentinel North research strategy, this interdisciplinary dialogue would never have been possible, and several research teams would not have been able to take advantage of this invaluable optical tool. “My team and I will be able to explore new avenues for research,” says Marcel Babin. “The next generation, who are currently training in our laboratories, will benefit from this expertise.”