Aude Bernheim is a researcher in microbiology and genetics and head of the " Molecular diversity of microbes " team within Inserm's " Evolution and engineering of dynamic systems " unit.
Born in 1989, Aude Bernheim had a late but brilliant scientific vocation. As a high-school student, she was attracted by her involvement with associations. Interested in agricultural development issues, she went on to study agricultural engineering, and was fascinated by molecular biology and the workings of the cellular machine. She was then introduced to laboratory work at the Centre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires, and became enthusiastic about the creativity and teamwork that scientific research allows. During her PhD at the Institut Pasteur, she became interested in the anti-phage immunity of bacteria, and developed a passion for the microbial world and its extraordinary potential for discovery.
Since September 2020, Aude Bernheim has led a research team at Inserm in microbial genetics and genomics. Her laboratory aims to understand how bacteria defend themselves against their viruses. Until 2018, only three bacterial antiviral systems were known, two of which led to biotechnological revolutions (Restriction-Modification and CRISPR). Over the last four years, part of Aude Bernheim's work has revealed the existence of 80 new systems with incredibly varied molecular mechanisms. According to the young researcher: "We now believe there are thousands of them. Understanding this new world is leading us to rethink paradigms in microbiology and immunology, and is already leading to applications in biotechnology, healthcare and ecology".
True to her youthful aspirations, Aude Bernheim is also committed to gender equality in science and to promoting the scientific spirit among young people, through the creation of the association WAX Science (What About Xperiencing Science) and the participatory science program Science à la Pelle, which calls on the collecting skills of volunteer contributors. Through her regular appearances in the media and in the public arena, Aude Bernheim seeks to shed light on the workings of science, dispel stereotypes associated with scientific careers and arouse curiosity about research, particularly among young audiences.
Aude Bernheim has been awarded the Collège de France Prize for Young Researchers for its first edition in 2022.