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New Virus Discovered: Scientific Illustration GIF
A newly discovered virus could be affecting most of the population in the late days of October into early November this year. In it’s early stages the virus can completely change the behavior and...
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Vitamin Z? Scientific Illustration GIF
This is tryptophan. OK, it’s not a vitamin, it’s an essential amino acid that we get from food. You may have heard that it makes you sleepy, and it actually can help you sleep, but probably not in the...
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Alcohol Dehydrogenase | Molecular Illustration
The first person to correctly identify the New Years Eve mystery molecule was James Tyrwhitt-Drake. He was (very) quick to recognize Alcohol Dehydrogenase, an enzyme that converts alcohol (ethanol)...
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A STEP in the Right Direction: Scientific Animation
This (blue) protein is STtriatal-Enriched tyrosine Phosphatase, or STEP. Increased STEP levels are found in several genetic brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, and...
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Scientific Illustration of Antibody | Art of the Cell
I’m gearing up for a medical animation involving antibodies, and experimenting with new looks and ideas to make it look different from the ones I’ve done before. This one uses Van Der Waals spheres to...
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Antibody, Red, White, and Blue
In this week’s scientific image, a monoclonal antibody framed by two cellular membrane bilayers in a composition inspired by Georgia O’Keefe. This image, as well as most of the images on Art of the...
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Art of the Cell T-shirts Posters and Prints
Want a print or t-shirt of your favorite scientific cell, virus or molecule? Through the magic of the internet (Ok, actually it’s Redbubble) , we are now able to offer many Art of the Cell images on...
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Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome
Happy Holidays! When I’m supposed to be not hard at work creating molecular and cellular art, I can often be found playing the ukulele. Studies have shown that playing the ukulele dramatically...
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Will the real Zika virus please stand up?
We’ve seen a lot of news coverage recently of the ZIka virus. The World Health Organization has declared Zika a Global Emergency and scientists from around the world are collaborating, sharing...
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Zika/Dengue Virus Comparison gif
As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about the structure of the Zika virus envelope, here is an animated gif overlaying the Dengue Virus evelope structure with the homology model of the Zika Virus...
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In the Beginning There Was The (Inner Life of the) Cell
John Liebler – The Inner Life of the Cell from John Liebler on YouTube. I make my living creating art and animation of the beautiful and often surreal world that exists within our living (and...
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Scientific Illustration: It’s time to leave that capsid…if you dare.
My friend Justin Paglino is an Associate Research Scientist in Neurosurgery at Yale. I was talking to him after band practice the other day (he’s also a ridiculously talented...
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Packing it in: Scientific Animation of Protein Packing
Congratulations to my former colleagues at XVIVO. They have released the latest installment of The Inner Life of the Cell, and it’s a mind-blowing ride! Boasting a level of detail that I could only...
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That Spells DNA! Scientific Illustration
Today is DNA Day. From Wikipedia: DNA Day is a holiday celebrated on April 25. It commemorates the day in 1953 when James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin and colleagues...
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Antibodies Are Go! Scientific Illustration
Antibodies are the agents of our immune system. Each is sent to engage a specific target, to neutralize it or tag it for destruction. I’ve been doing some experimental renders with these, trying out...
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Well, You Can Tell by the Way I Use My Walk… Scientific Illustration
As my workload allows, I plan on spending some time revisiting many of the subjects from The Inner Life of the Cell, and where better to start than with a new version of this guy. The kinesin motor...
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Voronoi Spheres: Scientific Illustration
Just a test this week. I’m experimenting with voronoi modeling techniques. I was inspired in part by the structure of Cancellus (spongy) bone, but just as much by this fantastic Voronoi Yoda. The...
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Let it Bleed… Scientific Illustration of Hemoglobin
Over the past six months or so, my wife and I have been working our way through Dexter on Netflix, and we finally got to the series finale last night. So, as tribute to our friendly neighborhood...
View ArticleSketchfabtastic! Medical Animation
Hemoglobin by johnliebler on Sketchfab I’ve just discovered Sketchfab, a really cool website that allows you to post and view 3D models online, and I had to try it out. Here is the hemoglobin from...
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tRNA Friday: Scientific Illustration
Transfer RNAs carry amino acids to ribosomes, where they are strung to together to form proteins. This one was modeled using popsicle sticks, ping pong balls pdb 4TNA. The post tRNA Friday: Scientific...
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CRISPR Cas9 Gene Editing: Scientific Illustration
A guy came up to me at a party last weekend, and asked, “Hey, do you know about CRISPRs?” and I thought, “Sure, I know how to keep my vegetables fresh in the fridge.” But, as my new friend explained,...
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Unwinding DNA: Scientific Illustration
Since I started exploring CRISPRs and Cas9, I’ve been spending a bit of time working out the mechanics of animating strands of DNA for my Cas9 complexes to edit. DNA is a common character in medical...
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Time to VEG(F): Scientific Illustration
We’re making great strides here at Art of the Cell, but most of the growth is behind the scenes for now. Speaking of growth, this is VEGF which stands for Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor. VEGF is a...
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Dodecahedral RNA: Scientific Illustration
Pariacoto Virus (PaV) is a nodavirus with a dodecahedral cage of RNA inside an icosahedral capsid. PaV infects insects. This one came from a Peruvian armyworm. Really. A viral structure like this just...
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Tutorial: Make molecules in PyMOL for Lightwave3D
Medical and scientific animations frequently require the display of molecular models from PDB (Protein Data Bank) files. Until we get access to ePMV the options for Lightwave users are Sean Moyer’s PDB...
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That’s No Moon…Scientific Illustration
This star-shaped protein complex is called an apoptosome, and it is constructed in cells to bring about cell death. It’s actually part of a cell’s self-destruct system. When a cell becomes stressed or...
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Release Your Inhibitions: Scientific Illustration Acetylcholine
This (the green protein) is acetylcholinesterase. It is found in the space between neural synapses. The small blue guys are acetylcholine neurotransmitters, and are released from the pre-synaptic...
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See the Light: Scientific Illustration
Bacteriorhodopsin,a protein found in archaeal cells. Bacteriorhodopsin is a protein found in archaeal cells. It uses the energy from light to pump protons across the cell membrane. The resulting...
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One More Cup of Coffee: Scientific Illustration
These yellow structures are adenosine A2A receptors in the shell of the nucleus accumbens of the brain. As we become tired, our bodies produce adenosine (the green small molecule above), which binds...
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Scientific Illustrations on your Desktop
3D Molecular Wallpapers According to a recent study of the teenagers who live in my house, most people’s home screen savers are “disappointing”. In an effort to combat this serious world issue, we have...
View ArticleVideo: Watch our updated demo reel of medical and scientific animation.
Beneath our everyday world there is a miniature universe of cells, trillions of tiny worlds, unseen and beautiful. Here is the latest Art of the Cell demo reel, including clips from many of the...
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RNA Polymerase Transcription: Scientific Illustration GIF
In Autumn, the proteins in our cells, change colors and put on a fantastic display before they flutter softly to the ground… no wait, that’s leaves. Nonetheless, this RNA polymerase sports the latest...
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Covid-19 Virus Illustration
Covid-19 Virus Virion Illustration The coronavirus pandemic has kept us inside since March, but one positive effect is that it has created time for me to work on some projects of my own and to learn...
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