Tracking the virus in images: from lab to visualization, a fine example of synergy

On Friday September 11, Paris Match journalist Gaëlle Legenne and photographer Virginie Clavières visited the Institut Pasteur campus to meet a multidisciplinary team working to tackle COVID-19 which recently visualized the virus and produced startling colorized images showing it in clear detail.

« Cellules bronchiques humaines (en bleu) infectées par SARS-CoV-2 (orange). Image obtenue par microscopie électronique à balayage puis colorisée »
(c) Institut Pasteur. Image par Rémy Robinot, Mathieu Hubert, Vincent Michel, Olivier Schwartz et Lisa Chakrabarti, et colorisée par Jean Marc Panaud

These shots, captured via a scanning electron microscope for research purposes and then carefully colorized, are the result of a cross-disciplinary project involving the Virus and Immunity Unit, the Control of Chronic Viral Infections Group, the UBI (Ultrastructural BioImaging) UTechS and the Corporate Communications and Image Department. They show ciliated cells, "bronchial cleaners," which have been infected and colonized by SARS-CoV-2.

The images and the research behind them, which demonstrate both the Institut Pasteur's concerted response to the pandemic and the cross-disciplinarity of its teams, are showcased in an article that is well worth a read in full in the latest issue of Paris Match out this week.

A visual based on the images, symbolizing the remarkable engagement of the entire Institut Pasteur in tackling the outbreak, will soon also be displayed on the railings around the campus and in other communication materials aimed at the public during Pasteurdon.

Crédits photo de groupe : Paris Match. Autour d'Olivier Schwartz, directeur de l'unité Virus et immunité, (1^er rang de g. à dr.), Jean-Marc Panaud, Liza Chakrabarti, Jocelyne Creff, Stacy Gellenoncourt, Jérémy Dufloo, Blandine Monel, Mathieu Hubert, Florence Guivel-Benhassine; (2e rang de g. à dr.) Marija Zivaljic, Maaram Michael Rajah, Ludivine Grzelak, Rémy Robinot, Nicoletta Casartelli, Delphine Planas, Thimothée Bruel; (dernier rang de g. à dr.) Julian Buchrieser, Vincent Michel et Jérôme Kervevan.