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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 some new skills. I’ve spent a good bit of my quarantine time learning to use the open-source 3D software, Blender, and I love it! I know that there are already a lot of fantastic images of this…

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3D Animator Helps Fight the Zika Virus

3D Animator Helps Fight the Zika Virus

John Liebler’s curiosity and interest in creating a 3D model of the Zika Virus inspired Dr. Sean Ekins, CEO, Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to try to model every protein in the Zika virus…which directly led to writing a groundbreaking paper with homology models of all the proteins of the Zika virus. (Homology models, which are computational, three-dimensional renderings of proteins within…

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Zika/Dengue 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 structure.

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Will the real Zika virus please stand up?

Will the real Zika virus please stand up?

I have seen a lot of news coverage recently of the ZIkavirus. The World Health Organization has declared Zika a Global Emergency and scientists from around the world are collaborating, sharing information to help combat the disease. Zika is a mosquito-borne flavivirus which is becoming a pandemic in many parts of the world. It has possible links to birth defects in the fetuses of pregnant women… #zika #virus

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Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome

Happy Holidays!

When I’m supposed to benot hard at work creating molecular and cellular art, I can often be found playing the ukulele. Studies have shown that playing the ukulele dramatically increases the risk of UAS, or Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome. UAS manifests itself in the insatiable need to own “just one more” ukulele. Here, envisioned for the first time, is the viral capsid of this…

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T-shirts available: http://rdbl.co/1NYm587 

The kinesin motor protein was a real scene stealer in The Inner Life of the Cell, although it wasn’t even in the original treatment for the short. The original plan was to omit the motor protein in the vesicle shots, but when I saw Graham Johnson’s animation of the way a kinesin takes a step from April 2000, I secretly went ahead and modeled one of my own, animated a walk cycle for it, and added it into the vesicle shot. www.artofthecell.com #kinesin #biology #video #animation #gif #medical

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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 T-shirts, posters, prints, and a variety of other products. The scarves and duvet covers are actually pretty neat. Check them out, here!  http://rdbl.co/1NYm587

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Art of the Cell T-shirts Posters and Prints

Through the magic of the internet (Ok, actually it’s Redbubble) , we are now able to offer many Art of the Cell images on T-shirts, posters, prints, and a variety of other products. The scarves and duvet covers are actually pretty neat. :) Check them out, here!

http://www.redbubble.com/people/johnliebler/shop #redbubble

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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 Cell is available for licensing. Details can be found, here.

http://www.artofthecell.com/image-pricing-and-licensing

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Art of the Cell | Scientific Illustration - Antibody I'm gearing up for a medical animation involving antibodies, and experimenting with new looks and ideas to make it look different from…

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A STEP in the Right Direction

A STEP in the Right Direction-New Discoveries in Alzheimer's Research

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 fragile X syndrome.

Discovered by Dr. Paul Lombroso, STEP triggers the removal of receptors from the synapses of brain cells. This is part of the ordinary regulation of the synapse, but too much STEP can…

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Alcohol Dehydrogenase

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) into acetaldehyde in the liver and stomach lining, which, for many of us, is especially important on New Years Eve. Interestingly, some plants, bacteria, and yeast have Alcohol Dehydrogenases that do…

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Happy New Year!

As we ring out 2014, and welcome the new year, here’s a puzzle for you. Be the first to identify the molecules pictured above, and you’ll win an Art of the Cell prize!

Hint: they’re probably quite busy this time of year. :)

So leave a comment, send an e-mail, or tie a scrap of paper to an owl with your guess. I’ll post the answer in a few days.

Cheers!

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Vitamin Z?

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 way that you've heard.

No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without some uncle or cousin informing the gathering that the Turkey they are eating is loaded with tryptophan, and that it functions as a sort of knock-out drug to make us all collapse on soft furniture after dinner. Not quite.

First off, tryptophan levels in turkey are the same as in chicken and most other meat. Egg whites have about four times as much tryptophan, and we eat them for breakfast!

However, Postprandial Somnolence (which, apart from being an excellent name for a long lost Emerson Lake and Palmer album, is a sciencey way to say afterdinner sleepies) is a real thing, and tryptophan does play a part. But do you know what else plays a part? Pie. And mashed potatoes, and rolls, and all of the other carbohydrates you eat with the turkey. The carbs trigger the release of insulin, which stimulates the uptake of other amino acids into the muscles, leaving an increased level of tryptophan in your blood that can then be absorbed into the brain. The tryptophan is converted to serotonin, the serotonin is metabolized into melatonin, and, it's the melatonin that makes us sleepy.

I got sleepy just writing that last paragraph. You too? Go ahead, take a little nap.

When you wake up, there will be leftovers in the kitchen, and maybe one more slice of pie?

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from beautifulchemistry.net

Lots more cool stuff on their site!

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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 appearance of the affected, and spreads as the victims travel from house to house in this new persona gathering more infection as they go. “Children are the most susceptible, although secondary infections in adults are common in the days following an outbreak” says Dr. Candace Korne of the CDC (Center for the Distribution of Candy). Dr Korne goes on to say, however, that the virus is not life threatening, but can lead to moderate weight gain and tooth decay.

Happy Halloween! John Liebler www.artofthecell.com

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New Virus Discovered

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 appearance of the affected, and spreads as the victims travel from house to house in this new persona gathering more infection as they go. “Children are the most susceptible, although secondary…