The human microbiome is the collective genomes of all microorganisms living at the multiple sites of the human body (oral and nasal cavity, skin, gastrointestinal tract (GI) and vagina). Human (Homo sapiens) and their commensal microorganisms have evolved together over the last 200,000 years and have become dependent on one another. Interaction between humans and their symbiotic microbiota is essential to many aspects of normal ‘mammalian’ physiology, ranging from metabolic activity to immune homeostasis. Ecological or genetic changes that disturb this mutualism can result in disease. It reflects the evolutionary selection pressures acting at both the levels of the host and the microbial cells and has a direct profound impact on human health. The commensals include eubacteria, archaebacteria, viruses and fungi, which together form the human microbiome.

• Microbial signature for Crohn's Disease:
  A microbial signature for Crohn's disease


• Definition of a "healthy" Human microbiota


• Human gut microbiota associated with IBD (Inflammatory Bowel DIsease)


• Human gut microbiota associated with Functional Bowel Disorders such as IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)


• Translocation of bacteria in human organs associated with severity of diseases


• Human Microbiome Manipulation


• Molecular and Bioinformatics tools:
  Development of molecular tools for DNA and RNA extraction from human samples
  Development of qPCR systems for bacterial quantification
  Developement of Bioinformatics tools for diversity and function analysis of the human Microbiome: MetaTrans


• Partner of the METAHIT Consortium: MetaHIT stands for Metagenomics of the Human Intestinal Tract. The consortium is composed of 7 different European countries and a Chinese partner. Its seeks to uncover the diversity and function of the human gut microbiota, which is the aggregate of microorganisms that reside inside our body, using metagenomics approaches. Metagenomics is described as the study of genetic material recovered directly from environmental samples bypassing the need to isolate and culture individual bacterial community members. MetaHIT has first contributed to comprehensively characterize the diversity and gene content of the vast intestinal microbial ecosystem of 124 european individuals through a publication in Nature in 2010. Its second contribution allowed to classify the human microbiome in different types called enterotypes based on the microbial composition and abundance of each individual in a second publication in Nature in 2011. The consortium is now working on a association between the microbiota and metabolic disorders such as obesity and chronic intestinal disease such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).