The ALIBIOTE cross-disciplinary theme brings together a community of researchers from the various teams in the MICALIS unit, the “Food and Digestive Ecosystems” and “Bacterial Adaptation and Pathogens” pillars. Alibiote researchers share a common focus on exploring the role of microorganisms in fermentation or the role of foods, whether fermented or not, on the intestinal microbiota. The general aim of Alibiote is to create an environment conducive to the development of scientific initiatives aimed at meeting the challenges of developing healthy, sustainable food and maintaining the symbioses between humans and microbes, or between animals and microbes in the case of animal health.
The objectives of the Alibiote theme are as follows :
The Alibiote cross-cutting theme brings together a community of researchers from the various teams in the MICALIS unit, the “Food and Digestive Ecosystems” and “Bacterial Adaptation and Pathogens” thematic pillars. Alibiote researchers share a common focus on exploring the role of microorganisms in fermentation or the role of foods, whether fermented or not, on the intestinal microbiota.The general aim of Alibiote is to create an environment conducive to the development of scientific initiatives aimed at meeting the challenges of developing healthy, sustainable food and maintaining the symbioses between humans and microbes, or between animals and microbes in the case of animal health. The first challenge to which the Alibiote theme wishes to contribute is that of sustainable and safe food. Historically, food fermentation has been perceived solely as a means of food preservation; recent studies suggest that fermentation confers nutritional and functional benefits on fermented foods. The food micro-organisms – naturally present or not – can be a source of new strains used to modulate the functionalities of fermented products. Fermentation is also seen as a means of promoting a sustainable diet, in particular by improving the nutritional and functional qualities of protein-rich fermented plant foods with a reduced carbon footprint.
We consider the possibility of using microorganisms as a lever for designing sustainable fermented foods. The second major challenge for the Alibiote theme concerns the development of functional foods targeting the intestinal microbiota, which is now undeniably recognised as a key player in human health. Indeed, given that diet has a major influence on the composition of the gut microbiota, studying the effect of (fermented) foods on the latter represents an opportunity to develop functional products to implement preventive nutritional approaches, promoting health and well-being and reducing the risk of chronic diseases.
To achieve these objectives, we have set up three priority areas of work, described below.
The Alibiote community brings together around fifty researchers from various MICALIS thematic pillars. In order to achieve its objective to federate, one of Alibiote’s priorities is to animate this community through theme days and workshops. These initiatives have the dual aim of strengthening cohesion within the community and stimulating the emergence of ideas for innovative projects.
The MICALIS unit is affiliated to the Université Paris-Saclay, and is firmly rooted in the dynamic ecosystem of Paris-Saclay. With this in mind, the ALIBIOTE community aims to establish strong links with other players in the Paris-Saclay ecosystem, including academic partners, universities and students, as well as players in the socio-economic world. This openness is intended to stimulate exchanges and collaborations at a local level, creating the foundations needed to develop ambitious projects with both national and international scope.
We are convinced that the multi-disciplinary nature of the researchers in the Alibiote axis is a major asset, enabling the emergence of unique and original projects that exploit complementary expertise. To this end, each year Alibiote coordinates an internal call for projects within MICALIS to support innovative projects involving several research teams from the MICALIS unit. These calls for projects are intended to act as a springboard and prepare the way for larger initiatives such as those proposed by the ANR, Ferments du Futur or the European Commission.
Making the Alibiote community and its expertise visible is a major challenge in the context of scientific communication, which today goes beyond conferences and publications. Two major issues are emerging in this field: the first concerns the effective dissemination of scientific advances within the scientific community itself, while the second relates to the need to share these discoveries in an accessible and engaging way with the general public. Faced with these challenges, the Alibiote theme aims to put in place a proactive communication strategy. Internally, regular seminars will be organised to encourage the rapid circulation of knowledge between members of the community. In addition, the Alibiote axis aims to make active use of digital platforms and social media to disseminate its research results in an accessible, engaging and interactive way, thereby helping to raise the community’s profile and raise public awareness of its significant scientific advances.
