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Health challenges
Chronic inflammatory and non-communicable diseases – cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, asthma, allergies – are rapidly progressing and affecting increasingly younger populations.
Key figures:
- By 2050, 50% of the world's population could suffer from asthma or allergies (WHO)
- Cases of cancers and neurodegenerative diseases could increase by 70% and 170% respectively
- Generations born in the 1980s-1990s present an increased risk of certain cancers compared to their elders (The Lancet Public Health, 2024)
These pathologies, often linked to environmental, nutritional or infectious factors, disrupt the homeostasis (i.e., the regulation of certain physiological characteristics such as blood pressure, temperature, etc.) of the organism, creating "tissue scars" that increase vulnerability to other serious diseases.
How Institut Pasteur responds to this challenge
Institut Pasteur mobilizes its expertise in immunology, genetics, neurosciences and artificial intelligence to decipher the mechanisms of these diseases.
Research focuses on 4 major scientific challenges:
1. Decoding tissue physiology
- Study of development and physiology of barrier tissues: intestine, lungs, skin
- Focus on key organs such as the brain
- Use of preclinical models and organoids, in partnership with Institut Imagine and Institut Necker-Enfants Malades
2. Exploring the host as a meta-organism
- Analysis of interactions between host and its microbiota (bacteria, viruses, fungi)
- Studies in metabolomics, genomics, computational biology and deep learning
- Development of advanced culturomics capabilities (organoid cultures)
- Research on bacteria with antimicrobial effects
3. Studying long-term consequences of infections and nutrition
- Analysis of post-infectious sequelae, particularly after Covid-19
- Study of the impact of nutritional, inflammatory and infectious factors on tissue homeostasis
4. Integrating the impact of genetics, sex and age
- Research on biological differences between sexes in disease susceptibility and response
- Study of the roles of sex chromosomes and hormones
- Continuation of LabEx Milieu Intérieur work on determinants of natural variability in human immune response and collaboration with the Women's Health Institute (Université Paris Cité)