Two days before the storming of the Bastille in France, 233 years ago, the Holland Green Science Europe team drove to Rennes in Brittany. Because of all covid restrictions this was the first opportunity to see Professor Chen’s digestive model in operation!
After a long drive we were kindly welcomed by Dr. Didier Dupont from the INRAE institute in Rennes.
Dr. Dupont also is the chairman of INFOGEST, an organization that aims to improve the scientific knowledge on how foods are disintegrated during digestion.
After a beautiful walk through the lovely city, we arrived at our typical French restaurant “Mirlitantouille”,
12 Rue Nantaise (recommended). Didier’s colleagues Romain Jeantet and Steven Le Feunteun joined us for dinner. Because it was a beautiful evening, we had dinner outside at a little table on the pavement.
Then you realize yourself that this is, among other things, what makes France so nice.
Next morning, we drove to the research INRAE–INSTITUT AGRO Science and Technology of Milk and Eggs (STLO). They play an important role for many Brittany dairy companies in digestive analysis. For that purpose, they purchased Professor Chen’s Dynamic In Vitro Human Stomach Intestine model (DHSI-IV) a year ago.
After the general introduction to Didier’s team, we could finally meet her and there she was in full operation. We saw the stomach peristaltic movements and how acids and enzymes were added during the digestive process. The INRAE team shared with us their tips and tricks to let the machine operate even better.
Based on the stories and the input from one of the excellent operators we decided to rename the DHSI into NERDT® (NEar Real Digestive Tract). Satisfied we drove back to Holland just in time before the French would storm the Bastille again……
Raynaud Mignot
The INRAE team, from left to right:
- Romain Jeantet
- Raynaud Mignot (HGS)
- Didier Dupont
- Olivia Menard
- Gillis Gelissen (HGS)
- Jeehyun Lee
- Ines Greco
- Steven Le Feunteun
