However, these models are expensive and labour-intensive. In addition, greater ethical awareness and new global rules and stricter controls mean that obtaining authorization for these studies and their possible marketing takes a long time or even be denied.

Although it may seem futile to obtain clinically useful information from invertebrate species, some biological mechanisms are comparable to humans. In fact, although it does not possess an adaptive immune response, the innate immune response mechanisms are present (at the epithelial, cellular and humoral levels). This allows the study of host-parasite interactions and inflammatory triggering without the interference of adaptive responses.

Therefore, selecting alternative models is critical for microbiological research, especially when discrepancies in biological activity are often observed between in vitro and in vivo tests.

This research project aims to develop new in vivo and in vitro study models to analyse new microbial strains and evaluate health potential. In this context, particular attention will also be paid to the regulatory aspects that legislate on the testing and marketing of microbial strains under screening.