Evan Ingersoll and Gaël McGill

Cellular Landscape, 2015

Digital illustration
Digizyme’s Molecular Maya custom software, Autodesk Maya, and Foundry Modo used to import, model, rig, populate, and render all structural datasets

Digizyme Inc.
Brookline, Massachusetts, United States

Created for Cell Signaling Technology, Inc., and inspired by the stunning art of David Goodsell, this 3D rendering of a eukaryotic cell is modeled using X-ray, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and cryo-electron microscopy datasets for all of its molecular actors. It is an attempt to recapitulate the myriad pathways involved in signal transduction, protein synthesis, endocytosis, vesicular transport, cell-cell adhesion, apoptosis, and other processes. Although dilute in its concentration relative to a real cell, this rendering is also an attempt to visualize the great complexity and beauty of the cell’s molecular choreography. Interactive versions of parts of this landscape can be explored at http://www.digizyme.com/cst_landscapes.html.