Observe
The volatilome over time
How does a volatile signature change with the environment, microbiomes, metabolism and life events?
Living questions
Research often begins with a simple question.
What really happens when we breathe forest air? What does our volatilome reveal? How do microorganisms, cells and the environment contribute to what we are?
Here, questions serve to open up reflection. The answers distinguish what is established, what is plausible and what remains to be examined.
Choose a question
What we can already answer.
Is forest air really different?
Yes. Temperature, humidity, particles, microorganisms, compounds emitted by plants and pollution together make up a particular environment. The well-being people feel cannot, however, be attributed to a single molecule: physical activity, light, sounds, attention, expectations and social context also play a part.
Explore chemical ecology further →Is every volatile compound a message?
No. A compound may be a mere by-product of metabolism, a cue exploited by another organism, a signal shaped by evolution or a substance with no detectable effect in the context studied. The source, any possible recipient and the response all need to be identified.
Understand what circulates →Does our odour reveal our health?
The human volatilome varies with metabolism, microbiomes, diet, environment and certain physiological or pathological states. Signatures may become biomarkers, but they must be validated in rigorous studies before any diagnostic use.
Discover the volatilome →Are we an organism or an ecosystem?
We are a human organism living with numerous microorganisms. The concept of the holobiont helps to study this whole and its relationships. It does not mean that all species merge into a single individual, nor that their interests always coincide.
Explore microbiomes →Why does the same odour not produce the same experience?
Receptors and sensory processing matter, but so do the state of the body, attention, memory, learning, culture and the situation. A perception is therefore at once biological, situated and unique.
Understand perception →Do olfactory receptors really exist outside the nose?
Yes, members of this family are being studied in several tissues. Their presence and function cannot, however, be generalised: they must be established receptor by receptor, in a specific tissue and at biologically relevant concentrations.
See what we know →What these questions inspire
Three directions to put to the test.
Connect
Microbiome, molecules and responses
Which microorganisms produce or transform which compounds, and under what conditions do these compounds encounter a biological target?
Verify
Receptors, ligands and functions
Which ligands actually reach a given olfactory receptor outside the nose, and what measurable response appears in the tissue concerned?
A discipline of doubt
Knowing, supposing, feeling, questioning.
Sensosphere does not place all claims on the same level. A lived experience is real as an experience, but it does not on its own prove a biological mechanism. A hypothesis can be fruitful without yet being demonstrated.
Research begins when the question becomes precise enough to be tested against observations, measurements and other interpretations.
Read the starting question: does what escapes our senses also escape reality? →
Questions & collaborations
A question becomes stronger when it meets other disciplines.
I would like to engage in dialogue with teams in chemical ecology, volatilomics, microbiology, olfaction, receptor biology, human health and science mediation.