George Saade is a final year PhD student in porcine virology and immunology from the ImmunoCare team of BIOEPAR. He was invited to talk about his thesis work on the radio program Capsule de Science of the Labo des Savoirs on 27/05/20. 

Pork meat is the most produced in France and the most consumed in Europe. Moreover, it is an animal model that is very close to man: omnivorous, with a fairly long lifespan, and an anatomy close to human anatomy. It is subject to viral infections that have strong similarities with those of humans. There have also been a number of cases where diseases have been transmitted from pigs to humans.

George Saade works on the health of pigs and their respiratory diseases. These diseases have many impacts: reduced well-being, reduced growth, increased mortality, reduced income for farmers.... During his thesis, George Saade studied two viral infections, influenza type A and PRRS: the symptoms being similar, it is sometimes difficult to identify them. Moreover, in very frequent cases, pigs are co-infected with both viruses. What influence do the two viruses have on each other? What is the immune response in this particular case? George describes the two types of experiments he used, in vitro and ex vivo, and the protocols he followed. He then explains the results and possible applications in terms of adapting vaccination protocols and disease control.

The Labo des savoirs is a weekly radio program devoted to science and scientific culture. All fields of scientific knowledge are covered in this program aimed at the general public.

Hélène Cécilia, president of the Labo des Savoirs, and interviewer at the initiative of this capsule, is also one of the PhD students of the BIOEPAR laboratory, team DYNAMO. 

>> Listen to the full interview on Le Labo des Savoirs <<