Departments

The department "Molecular Bases of Human Diseases" aims at carrying out high quality research in the fields of immunology and cancer and contributing to improvements in health.
Radio and chemotherapies are prevalent in cancer treatments. These treatments induce DNA lesions that interfere with DNA replication and block cell proliferation. We study how cells respond to DNA replication obstacles and how these responses determine tumour progression. We explore molecular crosstalk between the DNA damage response, chronic inflammation and cancer.
The department includes strong programs on the molecular and cellular mechanisms leading to the persistence of HIV reservoirs, and on the characterization of immune activation profiles in HIV-1 patients. The department is also home to IMGT®, the international ImMunoGeneTics information system®.

The department of "Genome Dynamics" includes groups focusing their research on understanding the multiple activities of the genome in various model systems (Drosophila melanogaster, Xenopus laevis, Mus musculus and human cells). These activities which are often both genetically and epigenetically controlled include DNA replication, recombination, chromosome segregation, transposition, transcription, RNA splicing, chromatin structure and chromosome organization.
The groups of the department have multiple interactions resulting in exchanges of technologies, expertise and knowledge. Indeed most projects aim to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the processes analyzed and take advantage of similar experimental strategies using biochemical, molecular, cellular, genetic, genomic and bioinformatic approaches.

Developmental Genetics is used to understand how genetic information is translated into the production of many different cell types that are coherently organized in a complete organism. Groups in the Department Genetics and Development are interested in various aspects of developmental genetics, from the establishment of cell polarity in the egg, to muscle differentiation, or the formation of an extremely complex structure such as the adult brain.