The European Research Council (ERC) has just awarded a Consolidator Grant to Fabien Duveau, CNRS researcher at the Laboratory of Biology and Modelling of the Cell  (LBMC, CNRS/ENS de Lyon), for his eGRIDE project. This prestigious grant is awarded to researchers wishing to consolidate their independence around innovative projects.

Fabien Duveau's research aims to understand how the evolution of living beings is guided not only by external factors imposed by the environment, but also by intrinsic properties of organisms - such as their robustness to mutation. In his thesis, defended in 2011 and carried out at the Institut Jacques Monod (Université Paris 7/CNRS) under the supervision of Marie-Anne Félix, he tackled this fundamental problem in the context of the development of the nematode C. elegans. He then studied the mechanisms of gene expression evolution in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a post-doctoral researcher in Patricia Wittkopp's team (University of Michigan, USA), from 2012 to 2017.

After two years with Pascal Hersen's biophysics team (Laboratoire Matière et Systèmes Complexes, Université Paris 7), he was recruited at CNRS in 2019. He then joined the "Genetic complexity of living systems" team led by Gaël Yvert at LBMC, where he continued his research funded by an ANR Young Researchers grant.

eGRIDE project

Evolutionary mechanisms of gene regulation in dynamic environments

Living cells are able to regulate their gene expression levels in response to environmental changes. This gene regulation is essential for the survival and adaptation of organisms facing dynamic environments, as it enables cells to produce the right kind of protein, in the right quantity, at the right time. The molecular mechanisms leading to this regulation have been extensively studied, but their emergence and evolution remain poorly understood. The aim of eGRIDE project is to determine how the evolution of gene regulation depends, on the one hand, on the effect of random mutations (what field of possibilities?) and, on the other hand, on selection (what are the benefits and costs of regulation?). To achieve this, innovative experimental and statistical approaches to high-throughput RNA sequencing, genetic mapping and measurement of cell proliferation in dynamic environments will be applied to a powerful biological model: the yeast S. cerevisiae. Understanding this highly controlled quantitative system will enable us to better predict the evolution of gene regulation, whether during the adaptation of species to their dynamic natural environments, or during certain pathological processes.

eGRIDE Project

ERC Consolidator Grants

The ERC Consolidator Grants are awarded to outstanding researchers of any nationality and age, with at least seven and up to twelve years of experience after PhD, and a scientific track record showing great promise. Research must be conducted in a public or private research organisation located in one of the EU Member States or “Associated” Countries. The funding - up to €2 million per grant, plus in some cases an additional €1 million for start-up costs - is provided for up to five years and mostly covers the employment of researchers and other staff to consolidate the grantees' teams.