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Paper short abstract

Due to the pluribiotic nature of the microbial world, any human intervention involving microbes will have unexpected consequences. Using the example of the use of phages to combat fire blight in orchards, we will seek to understand how to think and act while seriously considering these consequences.

Paper long abstract

The differences between the temporalities relevant to understanding microbial worlds and those specific to humans led me in previous work to develop the notion of pluribiosis, which emphasizes the transformative capacity of relationships between living beings. While we need categories to think about and act on the world, these categories are merely crystallizations at a given moment in time of ever-fluctuating relationships and entities that are constantly evolving. In my presentation, I would like to return to one aspect of pluribiosis, namely the idea that whatever plans humans have for microbes, there will always be unexpected consequences. How, then, can we think through the prism of the unexpected effects of our interventions? I will draw here on the description of a specific case: the use of bacteriophage viruses to combat the bacterium Erwinia amylovira, responsible for fire blight in fruit trees. In line with my previous work on the use of phages in human health and alternative drug development models, I will reflect on what it means to think and act from a given situation, taking into account the microgeohistories of the multi-specific relationships that exist in orchards. While some orchards can undoubtedly be defined as plantations, how can we propose responses that do not perpetuate current approaches and practices?