iWeekly
In 1887, Louis Pasteur, the "father of microbiology", established the Institut Pasteur in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, France, and began operation the following year with national recognition. Since its establishment 136 years ago, the Institute has been a world leader in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. In the 21st century, the lack of public funding, low salaries of scientists, and increasing geopolitical tensions have led to the rigidity of science and the development of research institutes. In the face of opportunities and challenges, the "Pasteurs" came together to create the "Music Lab" to start a new adventure with musical instruments. "When disillusioned with science, music is a way to escape, and vice versa. The band "Billie and the What?!" Lead singer Alice Billie Libri told The New York Times.
Science or music?
One evening in March, the cafeteria of the Institut Pasteur was bustling with activity. The restaurant is bathed in purple light, with pink, gold and white balloons and streamers filling the entire restaurant. In the middle is a slew of equipment, including microphones, speakers, guitars, and drum kits. It didn't take long for the blues-rock band "Polaris" to "Billie and the What?!" and the a cappella group "Les Papillons". Accompanied by songs such as "Bad Guy" and "Smooth", everyone gathered in a circle and danced with glow sticks.
If you just look at this scene, it's hard to imagine that it happened in the world's top research institute. “Billie and the What?!” Germano Cecere, the band's drummer and director of the laboratory of the Institut Pasteur, spoke to a New York Times reporter for hours about topics of interest to him, from genetics to jazz to Neapolitan cuisine. The 44-year-old was born in a small village near Naples, Italy. He started playing drums at the age of 9 and aspired to become a professional musician, touring all over Italy with the band. In 2006, Cecerre's short film "Borderline" premiered at a film festival in Rome and won the "Best Cinematography Award". "I wanted to make music, I wanted to do art, but my family insisted that it wasn't 'serious'. The so-called "serious things" in the family's mouth are to obtain a doctorate in human biology and genetics at the University of Rome, to pursue a postdoctoral study at Columbia University, and to join the Institut Pasteur. Cecerre said that the "music laboratory" not only allowed him to continue his unfulfilled dream, but also brought scientists together.
Bassist Javier Pizarro-Cerda is "Billie and the What?!" One of the creators of the band. Javier was born in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. In his memory, observing the vibrant nature was one of his favorite things to do as a child. "Every weekend, our family would climb the 3,300-metre mountain and encounter wildlife such as raccoons, pythons, armadillos, sloths, monkeys, giant ferns, and birds such as multicolored finches and turtledoves. Biodiversity sparked my interest in studying biology. Javier's mother was a bank clerk and in her spare time she often played the guitar and sang Latin American songs. Javier inherited his mother's passion for music and developed the habit of carrying musical instruments everywhere he went.
In 1999, Havel joined the Institut Pasteur, and in 2017 he led a team that collaborated with the World Health Organization (WHO) on how to combat bubonic and pneumonic plague. In the same year, the WHO declared an outbreak of plague in Madagascar of unprecedented severity. At the moment of the epidemic, there are no outsiders. In Algerian novelist Albert Camus's novel The Plague, journalist Lambert is caught up in the plague as an outsider, saying to Dr. Rieux: "To be alone in happiness may be guilty of conscience." Instead of pursuing happiness, Javier traveled with his team to Madagascar to determine the severity of the plague, working with colleagues at the local Institut Pasteur to identify the characteristics of the Yersin's strain responsible for the plague epidemic. Xavier and his team followed in the footsteps of their predecessors and developed a vaccine against bubonic plague. The results of the test were very successful and a patent has been filed.
The "Music Laboratory" gave the "Pasteurs" a great deal of freedom. Georg Braune, a member of another band, "Les Papillons", points out that it is essentially a refuge where "we can come to the 'laboratory' at any time to have fun and do whatever we want". Libri, a PhD student studying DNA repair, immunodeficiency and cancer, said, "When you're disappointed in science, music is a way to escape, and when you're disappointed in music, science is a way to escape." ”
"An institute abandoned by the French government"
Louis Pasteur once said, "Unremitting effort and countless patient studies will eventually lead to a 'serendipitous discovery'." "The inauguration of the Institut Pasteur may have been quite ostentatious, but the early days were shabby. There is only one house, which is used both for vaccine treatment and research, and for Pasteur and his family. The austere environment could not stop the Institut Pasteur from being at the forefront of the industry. Since 1908, a total of 10 scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. In addition, the institute has made many revolutionary discoveries about diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, tuberculosis, polio, and influenza. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Institut Pasteur has identified infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, brain connectivity disorders and neurodegenerative diseases as three priority areas of scientific research, and has collaborated with international organizations in the areas of cancer and vaccine development.
In recent years, the development of the Institut Pasteur has encountered a bottleneck. During the pandemic, the institute partnered with Merck KGaA's pharmaceutical company in the United States to develop a vaccine, and in April of the same year, the vaccine was in the first trial phase, and in August of the same year, the vaccine began testing on human volunteers. At the beginning of 2021, the institute abandoned the research on the new crown vaccine because the antiviral effect was not as expected, and the newspaper Le Monde wrote: "The Institut Pasteur is a son abandoned by the French government. Sanofi, another French pharmaceutical giant, also said at the time that the ambitious plan to produce 100 million vaccines would not be completed until the end of 2021. The issue of vaccines has touched a nerve in the French, which some see as an insult to French dignity. Bastien Lachaud, a member of parliament for the Democratic Socialist party La France Insoumise, criticized: "A country with Pasteur does not have a vaccine. What does this mean? The government's lack of public funding, the long-term dominance of the private sector, and the mercenary ethos of the industry have reduced French science to where it is today. François Bayrou, leader of the MoDem party, mentioned that the head of the American biotechnology company Moderna is Frenchman Stéphane Bancel: "Our most brilliant researchers are at the service of the United States. France must strengthen public action, including research. It's about money, but it's well spent, and it's a necessary investment. The Guardian pointed out that the French pharmaceutical industry has been inclined to outsource for many years, and the French government does not pay attention to vaccine research and development, resulting in the gradual decline of the French pharmaceutical industry research center and a serious outflow of talents, capital and technology. In this vaccine race, France has finally lost.
In March, Yasmine Belkaid, the institute's new female director, said in an interview with the Financial Times that a lack of public funding, low salaries for career scientists and growing geopolitical tensions hindered international cooperation had led to the rigidity of science. Without adequate resources, the talent pipeline is shrinking. "This crisis scares me. Who wants to be the next generation of scientists without investment?"
Yasmin Belquede, a French-Algerian national, became the second woman to serve as the new director of the Institut Pasteur on January 2 after 28 years at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Belkade's research focuses on the relationship between microbes and the immune system, emphasizing the role of the microbiota in immunity, vaccine effectiveness, and the repair of biological tissues. Belkade's research has been internationally acclaimed, and she has even been named a "star in the field of microbiology". During her six-year tenure as director, Belkade developed ambitious plans. She wants the Institut Pasteur to be more flexible, open and inclusive. In March 2023, the Institut Pasteur in France announced that it would break off its cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and resign from the leadership of the Shanghai Pasteur Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Belcade hopes to reopen a branch in China and restore confidence in science by strengthening education for people around the world. "Researchers are increasingly relying on important genetic databases, often from wealthy developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, which means that the findings are most applicable to the populations of these countries. Belkade also said that vaccinations are very unfair, such as her mother in Algeria who had to wait two years to get vaccinated. "This is the world we live in, and this is the world I don't want to live in. ”
所长亚斯敏·贝尔凯德(Yasmine Belkaid)。
News and picture sources: Institut Pasteur's official website, The New York Times, The Guardian, Financial Times, Le Monde, some pictures from the Internet
iWeekly Weekend Pictorial Exclusive Manuscript, please do not reprint without permission