In Toulouse, a researcher publishes a comic on viruses to fight fake news
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In the midst of a pandemic, a young scientist from the Toulouse veterinary school has restored the truth about viruses thanks to the 9th art. #TheyHaveTheSolution
His universe is usually made of test tubes and test tubes. Nothing predisposed Pierre Bessière to writing a comic strip. It was the arrival in our lives of Covid-19 that prompted this teacher-researcher in virology to want to explain to us how viruses work and in particular that of the flu. “The world found out what a virus was. How dangerous it could be. And we heard a lot of nonsense, asserts the scientist. I realized that there were many misunderstandings on the part of the general public”, he adds.
The titled 80-page comic The flu, a virus, ducks and men humorously recounts the life and work of a virus: from its reproduction to its mutation, including the ways of catching it and the ways of protecting oneself from it. A researcher in a veterinary school, Pierre Bessière also discusses the role played by birds, most attested by ducks, in the spread of influenza viruses.
In order to be understood by all, the words used are accessible while providing information entered. A work of popular science that is not always easy for the author. “There are terms that I have been used to using for years and they are not at all explicit for the general public”, recognizes Pierre Bessière. The signed drawings Yohan Colombie-Vives will also bring additional understanding, without of course making nonsense. “It happened on a cell that Pierre Bessière said to me: ‘there she has too many arms, in fact she only has eight’. Suddenly, these are small alterations, adjustments” says the illustrator from Tarn-et-Garonne.
The flu, a virus, ducks and men is published by Edp Sciences, in the Carnet de labo collection.