The world’s number one cosmetics company, L’Oréal, publishes a joint paper with iMEAN, the French startup expert in in silico modeling.

Both members of TWB’s consortium, L’Oréal & iMEAN published a new paper on the American Society for Microbiology Journal reporting the complete genome sequence of a strain of Sphingobium xenophagum isolated from the famous thermal water sources of La Roche-Posay located in France. These data provide valuable information and important insights into the physiology and metabolism of this Sphingobium organism.

Full article available here.

The miraculous power of natural spring waters of La Roche-Posay:

Used for the first time in a treatment in 1928, Thermal Spring Water from the village of La Roche-Posay has been recognized for millennia for the countless benefits it offers to our skin. An essential asset in the treatment of many skin pathologies, such as eczema or psoriasis, its exceptional virtues bring immediate relief to thousands of spa guests staying each year at the La Roche-Posay Thermal Spa.

From myth to scientific reality:

One legend says that it was Bertrand Du Gesclin, commander-in-chief of the armies of Charles V, who discovered the source on his return from the Spanish countryside at the end of the fourteenth century: his horse, which suffered from eczema, would have plunged into the water and would have come out definitively cured . A legend which must have contained a substance of truth since in 1897, the spa, built a few decades earlier by Napoleon, was declared of public utility.

It was only many years later that this myth of naturally wonderful water was gradually confirmed by modern science. Thanks to its immunomodulatory properties (i.e. capable of acting on the immune system), it has the ability to inhibit the mediators of inflammation and guarantees an immediate soothing effect. It is also the only thermal water in the world to benefit from such a natural concentration of Selenium, which gives it unrivaled antioxidant qualities, ideal for combating skin aging and oxidative stress.

In 2018, the Thermal Spa was acquired by the group L’Oréal, perpetuating the studies & research on the mysterious waters of La Roche-Posay—only this time—using much more advanced technologies in collaboration with iMEAN.

By giving access to a very sophisticated technology, iMEAN provides the right tools to explore the genetic resources of natural organisms collected directly on-site.

Thanks to its innovative set of bioinformatics tools and its unique expertise, iMEAN enables in silico reconstruction of exotic micoorganisms opening up a new era of biodiversity exploration and discovery for the natural products of tomorrow.