Lasergirl against the killer germ
new comic heroine is conquering the world of science and future technologies. While Batman and Iron Man first have to invent the technologies that give them superpowers and still remain science fiction, it's the other way around for Lasergirl: her superpower really exists. It's science, not fiction. The science comic "Lasergirl" was invented by scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Photonic Technologies. Lasergirl's superpower is light. Her secret weapon is a sophisticated method for quickly detecting life-threatening infections.
An unknown danger lurks in the body world. The immune police are trying to bring the situation under control. But who is it really fighting? In an action-packed comic adventure, Lasergirl sets out on a journey inside the body to set a trap for the killer germ. Her secret weapon is a method developed by a team from the Leibniz Institute for Photonic Technologies (Leibniz-IPHT) and Jena University Hospital with European partners to quickly detect life-threatening blood poisoning (sepsis): using optical technologies and artificial intelligence.
The Lasergirl comic provides readers aged ten and older with an insight into a technology that can save lives. After all, sepsis is often detected too late with current diagnostic methods. This life-threatening condition affects around 280,000 people in Germany every year; more than a stroke, than breast or colon cancer. Almost one in four do not survive sepsis.
What happens when the immune system turns against its own body during blood poisoning? Why are multi-resistant germs so dangerous? And how can they be stopped? A knowledge section explains how it actually works to identify germs with a laser. And what all has to happen before the life-saving technology is used at the bedside.
"Lasergirl: Hunt for the Killer Germ" is available as a free e-book at lasergirl.de, as well as the usual e-book platforms. The comic can also be used in the classroom.
Original publication:
Lasergirl: Hunt for the killer germ
Published by the Leibniz Institute for Photonic Technologies, Jena, Germany
Story & text: Lavinia Meier-Ewert & Daniel Siegesmund
Illustration: Sandruschka
ISBN 978-3-9822875-1-5
Further information:
Welcome to Photonworld – a platform for knowledge, interesting facts and science on the topic of light. Photonworld aims to provide a basic understanding of the physics of light and its countless phenomena. From medicine, to art and physics: all topics are covered.
Photonworld originated as an initiative of the excellence cluster the Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP) and the Laboratory for Attosecond Physics (LAP) at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ).
The initiator of the project is Prof. Dr. Ferenc Krausz, Chair of Experimental Physics at the LMU and Director of the MPQ.
Photonworld’s Student Zone reports directly out of the PhotonLab, which is supported by the Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST) and the DFG Research Unit FOR 2783. At the PhotonLab, schoolteachers and students can find up-to-date information about experiments and goings-on at the lab, and plan their own visit to the laboratory.
