April 2011: Researchers took part in the Edinburgh International Science Festival Flu Fighters There was a lot to detect at the Medical Detectives exhibition of the University of Edinburgh during Easter holiday 2011. For six days (17th-22nd of April) biomedical researchers from the University of Edinburgh once again took centre stage at the National Museum of Scotland’s Hawthornden Court for Discover Science at the Edinburgh International Science Festival 2011. Dr Marieke Hoeve, together with Ms Eliza Wolfson, had developed the hands-on activities stand Flu Fighters for Discover Science. Her stand taught the visitors about influenza disease and research, specifically why the flu virus can make you sick, how our body defends itself against this infectious disease, and what flu scientists do in the lab. Activities including included foam puzzles explaining various aspects of human-, avian- and swine flu, zooming in on topics like species specificity, receptor binding, vaccine development, and epidemics & pandemics. Fluffy toys in the shape of an influenza virus and various other microbes were used to describe different classes of micro-organisms (viral, bacterial, parasites, fungi) and encouraged younger children to design new viruses – using play dough or pen & paper. Publication date 07 Sep, 2016
