Intricately modelled viral spheres and pasta-shaped proteins are among the many images to come out of Jean-Yves Sgro's lab at the Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Wisconsin. "Molecular graphics have evolved over the last 30 years from a simple vector display on a high performance oscilloscope to sensor based virtual reality," Sgro explains. His own website offers online tutorials in imaging with software such as RasMol and Kinemage, plus a gallery of computer visualizations of everything from Foot and Mouth disease to the common cold.
Science for Art?s Sake
Modelled of joint compound, foam, and leather, the sculpture above is one of a dozen works featured in the Online Gallery of The Estate Project for Artists with AIDS. A project of the New York based Alliance for the Arts, The Estate Project mission is "to encourage artists with HIV/AIDS (and other life-threatening diseases) to continue their creative output for as long as possible and to make the necessary legal provisions that will protect their work from being compromised following their deaths."
