MICROBIOLOGY AND THE FOOD CHAIN Division

The Microbiology and the Food Chain (MICA) division develops microbiology research focusing on the food chain, including human and animal health and biotechnologies. The main purpose of the division is to produce knowledge spanning from foundational microbiology to frontier science, in order to enhance microbial food safety, quality and sustainability, to preserve the human and animal health, and to develop biotechnology uses for bioresources, and food chain waste and effluents.

The division has strong roots in molecular biology and genetics and brings together expertise in infectious diseases, microbial ecology, biochemistry, physiology, cell biology, omics approaches, systems and synthetic biology, and bioinformatics.

Our research focuses on microorganisms including: bacteria, yeasts, fungi, microalgae, phages and some viruses, whether they are related to food, associated with animals and humans, or used in biotechnologies and environmental biorefineries.

The missions of the MICA division:

• Food quality and safety improvement by managing microbiological food transformation processes and the identification and reduction of microbiological risks associated to the food chain.

• Animal health and welfare improvement, reducing bacterial infections and pathogen carriage, as well as preventing microbial zoonosis. Human health and well-being improvement by enhancing knowledge on microbiota (including gut microbiota) and their interactions with the host's diet and physiology.

• Microbiology development for food and non-food biomass uses as well as the valorisation of food chain waste and effluents.

Activities of the MICA division are related to different food production branches (livestock, dairy, meat, plants including cereals and vegetables and fruits) and a large variety of application areas.