Pr. Marc-André Selosse, Ph.D
Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles , Professor at Gdansk University (Poland) and Kunming University (China) , Membre de l'Académie de l'Agriculture de France et de l’Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, FRANCE
Born March 29th 1968, is professor at Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris), and at Universities of Kunming (China) and Gdansk (Poland), where he leads research teams. He has taught at Viçosa University (Brazil), and teaches at Ecole Normale Supérieure, Science Po and Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC). His researches focus on the ecology and evolution of mycorrhizas, a major symbiosis between soil fungi and roots of most land plants. He also has a general interest for symbiosis and its evolution. He was head of the French Botanical Society for ten years and is now president of the Fédération BioGée, member of the French Academy of Agriculture and of the Institut Universitaire de France. He (co-)edits four international scientific journals: New Phytologist, Ecology Letters, Symbiosis and Botany Letter. All his papers (more than 230 scientific papers and 330 outreach papers) are downloadable at http://isyeb.mnhn.fr/en/directory/marc-andre-selosse-405. He published outreach books in French on microbiota (Jamais seul, 2017), tannins (Les goûts et les couleurs du monde, 2019) soil (L’origine du Monde, 2021), place of humans in nature (Nature et Préjugés, 2024).
Abstract
We see ourselves and our societies so autonomous and distant of Nature that we miss… what we are, and our links to other living beings. We see microbes as negative encounters, and miss them as permanent supports and helpers of our lives. The raising awareness of microbiota challenges a bit this, but we are still reluctant to understand how exactly we depend on them to achieve a healthy life. And we mostly focus on the intestinal microbiota, a quite powerful player of our development and physiology indeed. Yet, we remains poorly aware and active on an abundant microbiota we more easily see, smell and touch—the one we can the most harm of sustain: the skin microbiota.
Largely devoted to protective functions, our skin microbiota is a natural fur which we do not protect enough. Excessive washing, with detergents, bactericides (e.g. virucide gels) and extreme physical disturbance (e.g. peeling) harm it. Application of products containing emulsifiers, antioxidants and bacteriostatic compounds also have negative effects. After examining why we became so dependent on this tinny microbial layer (our skin biofilms) in evolutionary terms, we will explore pathways to make ours skin alive again.