Exploratory projects

Functional-structural (FS) models, developed in several INRAE units, provide dynamic 3D representations of plants. Their detailed representations of a plant’s development and of the competitive relationships that emerge, both within the plant and with the environment, make them an ideal tool for understanding and predicting how trees function in an orchard population.

The genetic selection of animals has been revolutionised over the past years by the advent of genomics, making it easier to select for specific essential phenotypes. Nevertheless, the task of understanding the links between observed genetic variations and phenotypic characteristics of interest remains complex. The OBAMA interdisciplinary project proposes to combine AI with genomics to improve our understanding of the influence of genetic factors on phenotypes in pigs.

The control of continuous fermentation during production is a major challenge for manufacturers of fermented vegetable juice drinks. With its proposed development of a digital twin that can continuously predict and control the plant fermentation process, the FermenTwin project could provide food technologies with a valuable solution.

A better understanding of how gonadal cells decode intracellular signalling is essential if we are to improve and better control reproduction.

Understanding how plants defend themselves against pathogens is a major challenge for moving towards an agriculture that uses fewer pesticides.

Today, agriculture faces many challenges, including to avoid the development of certain pathogens resulting from the reduction in the use of inputs with a view to sustainable agriculture as well as the effects of climate change. In this context, many questions arise in the short term about the adaptive capacities of these bio-aggressors. Will an insect pest resist the next heat wave? Or will it instead be greatly affected by rising temperatures and cease to be a threat ?

Emerging arboviruses (e.g. Zika, West Nile virus) represent a global threat to human and veterinary public health. Mostly of zoonotic origin, these viruses are transmitted to vertebrate hosts by arthropod vectors, such as mosquitoes or ticks.

In plant and animal genetics, selection programmes aim to identify individuals whose performance (yield, resistance to disease or environmental stress) meets previously defined criteria. This selection requires the acquisition of data, in the field or in breeding, which can be costly or time-consuming.

Integrative biology is based on the study of complex biological networks. Understanding the plasticity of biological interaction networks due to phenotypic, environmental or interventional variability is an important challenge in fields as diverse as genomics or human nutrition. Such studies often include comparisons between contrasting groups, including variables of various natures (continuous, counts, binary, etc.). These so-called "mixed-type" data can be difficult to analyse in a unified way. While multivariate probabilistic models provide a robust framework for inferring interrelationships among continuous variables, an analogous model for mixed-type data has yet to be defined.

The prion paradigm unifies a number of age-related, devastating neurodegenerative pathologies. The PrionDif project seeks to develop a multi-scale mechanistic model accounting for the spatiotemporal dynamic of prion spreading within the brain. This approach will allow the identification of key processes to enable therapeutic advances and promote early diagnosis.