• Reduce text

    Reduce text

  • Restore text size

    Restore text size

  • Increase the text

    Increase the text

  • Print

    Print
All articles
timber for construction. © INRA, CARRERAS Florence

News

22 Nov 2006

A major innovation for the in-depth treatment of timber

After six years of research, researchers in the INRA-INPT-ENSIACET unit in Toulouse, and R&D teams at Lapeyre, have developed a revolutionary treatment for construction timber. The Wood Protect® process, patented by Lapeyre and the INPT, protects timber in-depth against external attack, while endowing it with an unequalled stability and lifespan. This innovative treatment is based on a chemical process which uses natural and non-toxic reagents. It thus naturally forms part of the new high priority objective for research, "green chemistry", which consists in creating more environmentally-friendly chemical products, notably using agricultural resources.

Rapeseed field in bloom in the Ile de France region. © INRA, CAUVIN Brigitte

News

29 Sep 2006

Some highlights from 70 years of INRA rapeseed research

INRA was the first French research institute to carry out artificial selection experiments on rapeseed. This research has spanned 70 years and has resulted in many new discoveries and innovations.  Over that time span, rapeseed has gone from having a marginal presence in France to covering more than 1,500,000 hectares of land in 2015.

Tobacco protoplasts. © INRA, PELLETIER Georges

News

08 Jun 2006

Shedding light on cytoplasmic male sterility

Georges Pelletier was the first winner of INRA’s Agricultural Research Award in 2006. When asked to describe his most significant contributions, he starts by citing cytoplasmic male sterility: "The research took over 15 years, starting in the 1980s, and was riddled with technical challenges. But when you compare what we thought then and what we know now, you really see how scientific understanding has progressed”.  

Cow's cheese

News

30 May 2006

Ultrafiltration: an innovative process and a new cheese

INRA developed ultrafiltration to filter milk through a very fine membrane which partially removes small molecules. Cheeses made using this process contain soluble proteins and, with them, certain mineral salts which are usually eliminated from the whey when milk is curdled using rennet or a similar enzyme. Patented in 1969 after 14 years of research and fine tuning, the process is now widely used in the cheese industry to make Pavé d’Affinois and other cheeses such as Australian cheddar.