# Science Is Fun: SARS-CoV-2 and Its Variants
Welcome to this new episode of *La science s’aMuse*, the science show co-produced byUM Divergence-FM that takes you on a journey through the Muse Laboratories archipelago. This week, our guests are Samuel Alizon and Mircea Sofonea. They are epidemiologists at Mivegec and, last February, authored a report highlighting the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants. They discuss this with us in a 30-minute in-depth interview.
And once again this week, we’re bringing you a topic in the news. A hot-button issue that hasn’t lost its relevance, even if it may seem a bit repetitive given the unbelievable reality this virus has forced upon us for the past year. From the Vendée to the Var, via the Vienne and the Vosges, we’re all talking about the same thing: variants. While our travels have gone virtual and our dreams of escape have been dashed, these variants are spreading from one city to the next. Viral rivals to the 2020 COVID strain—virulent in the British variant or highly mutable in the South African variant—their evolution in the face of the vaccine is throwing Minister Véran—and us—into disarray.
So, since a well-informed listener is worth two, let’s take stock of the situation with our guests today, Samuel Alizon and Mircea Sofonea. In February, they conducted and published an analysison the spread of these strains—referred to as “variants”—and announced, slightly ahead of everyone else, that their spread might be a bit more advanced than we thought…
There won’t be a second part of the show today, as we’re bringing you a full-length interview.
Related reading:
- SARS-CoV-2 Variants: “When it comes to the use of sequencing in public health, France is lagging behind”
- Mircea Sofonea: “Modeling is simply another form of quantitative data analysis—not a form of divination.”
- COVID-19: “We must at all costs prevent the British variant from becoming the dominant strain”
Science is Fun—you’ve got the ticket, let’s go!
Co-production: University of Montpellier/Divergence-fm
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault/Lucie Lecherbonnier
Director: Adeline Flo’ch
Tune in to the show “A LUM LA SCIENCE” on Divergence FM 93.9
