From genes to ecosystems: how to link such different scales

Virginie Courtier-Orgogozo
Biologist, CNRS researcher at the Institut Jacques-Monod, Paris.
Honorary professor at the Collège de France.

HiPhiS - Séminaire inter-universitaire d'Histoire et Philosophie des Sciences
Cycle 2024: Question(s) d'échelle? Crossed perspectives.

Created in 2009 and supported by the Montpellier universities and the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme de Montpellier, HiPhiS is a high-level inter-university popularization seminar on contemporary science, which aims to draw the attention of the entire university community (teachers and students) to the interdisciplinary interest and philosophical stakes of the research carried out in the teams and laboratories of our universities, as well as in the international scientific community.

The HiPhiS 2024 cycle is supported by the Pôle Research UM MIPS (Mathématiques Informatique Physique Systèmes).

HiPhiS contacts: Delphine Bellis / Laurent Boiteau / Viviane Durand-Guerrier

Summary

From Mendel's work in the 19th century, which highlighted the existence of microscopic "factors" explaining the color of flowers, to today's biology, which envisages genetically modifying various organisms such as mosquitoes or plants to combat epidemics or global warming, our relationship with the living world has changed considerably. And they continue to evolve as new discoveries are made. How can we understand, with today's knowledge, the effect of genes on organisms and on the environment? How can we unravel the myriad interactions between living organisms, from molecules to ecosystems? We'll be looking at one of the fascinating features of biology, which is its ability to bridge extremely diverse spatial and temporal scales.