About

The Milieu Intérieur project provides insight into the core of human diversity by dissecting the interplay between genetics and environment and their impact on the immune system.

The Milieu Intérieur Project

While the immune system is highly complex and responses are known to vary across individuals and populations, medical practices and public health policies remain based on a single model of patient care and drug development. The Milieu Intérieur project was initiated specifically to address this discrepancy. The primary objective of our work is to establish the boundaries of a “healthy” immune response and define the determinants of immune response variation, integrating the relationship among genetics, epigenetics and the environment. The specific aims of the Milieu Intérieur project are to: (i) define the naturally-occurring variability of human immune response, (ii) assess how this variation is genetically, epigenetically or environmentally controlled, (iii) understand how this genetic/phenotypic variation may account for differences in susceptibility to infection, therapeutic treatment or vaccine response, and (iv) ascertain the variation and role of the microbiota in regulating immune programs. MI Design

The Milieu Intérieur dataset. Click to enlarge.

Milieu Intérieur 2 (MI2) – The next phase

For the next 5-year period, we will build on the existing solid foundations to extend our understanding of how genetics, microbiome and environmental factors determine immune response variability. For this we will

  • Explore the genetic, microbiome and environmental determinants of immune response variation in the adult population
  • Define the drivers of immune response variation in extreme ages and other geographic regions
  • Apply a systems immunology approaches to human disease to ensure that relevant clinical discoveries will be translated into improved patient care

The Milieu Intérieur project is supported by the French National Ministry of Research. This program is part of a larger French government’s Invest in the Future economic stimulus plan called Investissement d’Avenir  – Laboratoire d’Excellence (LabEx).

Teams

Collaborations

To see see all the collaborations that the Milieu Intérieur Consortium has started please visit our website

Data visualization

Visualize the data from our Immunity paper “Functional analysis via standardized whole-blood stimulation systems defines the boundaries of a healthy immune response to complex stimuli” Duffy et al Slide4

Partners

Featured Projects

1,000 healthy donors

The Milieu Intérieur Consortium has established a 1000-person healthy population-based study (stratified according to sex and age), creating an unparalleled opportunity for assessing the determinants of human immunologic variance. The Milieu Intérieur Consortium initiated […]

When Gut Bacteria Changes Brain Functions

We are interested in deciphering the relationships that link gut microbiota with the immune system and the brain. So far, the mechanisms underlying these interplay, and most importantly their consequences, remain largely unknown. Therefore […]

The link between olfaction and emotion in bipolar disorders

Bipolar disorders (BD) is a prevalent and debilitating chornic psychiatric illness that generates a considerable cost for the society. Beyond mood episodes, manic or depressive, growing evidence has shown that BD patients even during […]

Milieu Intérieur: Deconvolution of the healthy immune response

Systems approaches for the study of immune signaling pathways have been traditionally based on selected purified cell types or cultured cell lines. However, in vivo responses involve the coordinated action of multiple cell types, […]

Featured Publications

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