MICROB’EX Project

MICROB’EX is a major interdisciplinary project that was selected as part of Université Paris Cité’s IdEx initiatives in 2025. Originating from the Microb’UP Institute, this project is led by 174 researchers from 15 research units at Université Paris Cité. It aims to gain a better understanding of the role of microorganisms in our lives and ecosystems.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the damage that an emerging pathogen can cause. Yet humanity also lives in balance with numerous environmental microorganisms, whether commensal or pathogenic, which colonise our flora or our organs on a chronic or temporary basis. A disruption of these balances can lead to acute pathologies. In the face of global changes and the spread of antimicrobial resistance, the harmful impact of these infectious agents is intensifying, requiring more targeted approaches to prevention and control.
MICROB’EX aims to better characterise microorganisms and their interactions with their hosts. By studying these balances and their disruptions through transdisciplinary and integrative approaches, we aim to define innovative control and treatment strategies, whilst offering the general public a less anxiety-inducing view of microbes.
The initiative is based on the following four axes:
– Promoting an integrative view of the balances between microbes and their environments
– Studying the disruptions that break these balances
– Developing strategies to prevent or manage these imbalances
– Promoting a better understanding of the microbial world amongst the general public

📃MICROB’EX Flyer