Pint of Science festival: Are all snakes venomous? How do vaccines work? Researchers decode these questions — at a pub in Delhi

Can boardgames save the complex wildlife in Thar desert and prevent snakebites? How do vaccines train our cells to defend us again future infections?
Scientists and researchers demystified these questions and more — not in a classroom or a seminar hall, but at Fort City Brew pub in Delhi's Hauz Khas market on Monday evening.
The event is part of the Pint of Science festival, which has come to India for the first time.
Originating in the UK in 2013, the non-profit global festival, organised by a grass-root community of thousands of scientists, soon spread to more than 500 cities in 27 countries. Topics ranging from atoms and galaxies to gene editing and quantum mechanics are de-mystified.
At the pub in Delhi, wide-eyed science enthusiasts watch as independent researcher Peeyush Sekhsaria starts the festival with a game of bingo — but with a twist.
Each player gets a card with 9 species of flora and fauna which are prevalent in and around the Thar desert. If the players have the species that Sekhsaria names, they place a pawn on top of the picture of the animal or plant. The first player to get a full house wins a reward.
Before Sekhsaria takes out a placard of the species, he gives players clues and explains the localised myths surrounding them. Hyenas, he points out are frequently regarded as vermin by local communities.
Another game he displays before the erudite audience is 'Snake-a-doo'. It's the conventional snakes and ladders but with options such as 'Got bitten by a snake, went to a baba and lost time', 'you tried to kill a snake, it's a crime,' and 'yay, not venomous'. The names of snakes are given along with what action to take in case one gets bitten by them.
'These games are part of a bigger project. We're working on snakebite mitigation and creating awareness among village communities,' he says.
Annually, there are close to 60,000 snakebite deaths in the country (80% of the global deaths). Close to 9 in 10 of these deaths are caused by just four snake species.
Along with dispelling myths and superstitions, his games have also transformed the way villagers think. 'Earlier, all snakes were saap and had to be 'killed'. Now, people have started differentiating between venomous and non venomous snakes,' he adds.
Identification of networks of villages which are better equipped to deal with snakebites, connecting with local teachers and interviewing snake bite survivors are all a part of the project.
The next speaker was K Mohan Reddy, a PhD student from Ashoka University who is working on how the 'memory' of our cells helps in gaining immunity against viruses and how vaccines work.
Unpacking the fascinating world of immune memory, and how vaccines train our cells, his interactive session with quizzes grips the audience.
'Vaccines mimic the infection and that's how the immune cells in our body prepare themselves against the actual pathogen,' he says.
He also speaks about herd immunity — 'what percentage of population should be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity is where the current research is at', he adds.
Immune memory is the ability of our body to fight against the infections, Reddy points out. 'Not enough studies are done on immune memory persistence in the Indian population… That's exactly what we're trying to achieve,' he adds.
He next explains the concept of T cells and B cells. While the former attacks infected cells, the latter attacks invaders (or viruses) outside the cells.
Reddy also speaks about how flow cytometry – a technique used to detect and measure the physical and chemical characteristics of cells – helps in identifying immune memory cells.
The festival is being held from May 19 to May 21 at Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru.

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