15.04.2022

Science Comics. Joint Project of DLNP and the Komikadze Group

There is a wealth of ways to explain something. The main thing here is to be heard and understood. How to communicate science and make it clear and entertaining? Especially at the time of information superfluity when the brain tries to protect itself from unnecessary information with all its might, when internet users do not read texts any more, but just scan through them.

And it is a scientific metaphor that helps educators nowadays. It enables them to transform complicated formulas and concepts into a vivid image. A scientific metaphor is best embodied in the format of science comics.

Despite the fact that this format is actively being developed across the world, it is still disapproved by part of the scientific community which considers it light-minded and superficial. But that is not the case.

To create a science comic strip, a big team is needed. These are scientists who correctly explain the very essence of scientific research. These are scriptwriters who make up an exciting story. These are artists who illustrate all this strikingly and accurately. As a result, we have an image captivating and understandable for both an adult and a child.

That is why we decided to communicate the scientific research performed at our Laboratory at the Sector of Molecular Genetics of the Cell headed by Elena Kravchenko, Candidate of Biology, using the science comic format.

So, our joint project with Komikadze, a collaborative association of scriptwriters, artists, illustrators and science educators, came to life. The Komikadze group appeared in 2018 after the book “For Certain”, Russia’s first comic strip book about current scientific research with famous scientists as characters, was issued. Since then, the group communicates science and promotes brands using comic strips, pictures and illustrations.